AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France—Denis Ortega is a hospital doctor working at the North Hospital of Marseilles in the anesthesiology-reanimation department.
Dr. Ortega attended one of Shen Yun’s performances at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix-en-Provence, France, on April 3, 2019.
“I just watched the first part of an absolutely wonderful show! Rich in color, rich in skills, very well presented which is different from a lot of traditional shows,” he said of New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Particularly moved by the dance, he said “to attend such an absolutely splendid show, rich in color, with dancers who are absolutely incredible, flexible and skilled ... it’s a different kind of dance than what we are used to, and then it allows us to discover a new China that we don’t know and which is good to discover.”
Indeed, Shen Yun dancers are performing classical Chinese dance. On the company’s website, it is explained: “Over thousands of years, classical Chinese dance was constantly refined, dynasty after dynasty, eventually developing into a vast and distinctly complete dance system. Combining athletic figures with controlled elegance, it is one of the most expressive art forms in the world.”
Through the dancers’ movements, they are able to express emotions and tell stories without having to use words.
For Dr. Ortéga, Shen Yun also integrates “values of spirituality in each piece.”
Indicating that “these are traditions to which Europeans are not used to,” he defines this spirituality as carrying “the fundamental values, stable values, noble values.”
“Values that make China’s beauty a little more beautiful. All these values of wisdom, morality, strength, that inspire respect,” he said.
For Dr. Ortéga, who works in one of the hospital departments where responsibility for life and death is a constant issue, these values must probably resonate with a singular strength.
Dr. Ortega also believes that Shen Yun “brings knowledge, an openness of the mind to other modes of culture, other civilizations.”
He added, “we are not the only one in Europe to have a culture, there are cultures as magnificent and full of traditions! Thousands of years have carved these cultures which are absolutely splendid!”
