NEW YORK—The music of Shen Yun Performing Arts is an engaging thing, according to Carmen Colombo, a retired pianist. The orchestra accompanying the classical Chinese dance performance included instruments she'd never heard before, like the Chinese pipa, creating a “delicate music” that was “so clean and refined.”
Ms. Colombo saw the matinee at Lincoln Center on Jan. 16, and loved the music of Shen Yun so much she wanted to take it home with her.
New York-based Shen Yun is unique on many fronts. It was formed in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of the divinely inspired traditional Chinese culture. The performances are largely classical Chinese dance, with stories and scenes covering many dynasties, stories, and ethnic groups of China. The orchestra has done what no other ensemble has on a large scale in harmonizing Eastern and Western sounds.
Ms. Colombo loves attending performances, especially musical ones, at Lincoln Center. Oftentimes she will buy the CD—as she planned to with Shen Yun—or record the names of the songs so she can find and compare many performances of a particular symphony, for instance. Shen Yun’s compositions are completely original and composed for each individual dance.
And it was not just the music, but everything together, she said, that showed a different side of China. A side one would not necessarily experience in their day-to-day lives.
“I love this different culture, it gives you a different experience,” Ms. Colombo said.
“The movements of the dancers reflect class, refinement; very delicate,” she said. The finesse of the movements was such that it was “almost very spiritual.”
The refined art of Shen Yun all coming together was a reflection of what China truly is, she said.
Reporting by Frank Liang and Catherine Yang
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
