DETROIT—Marketing professionals Kim Bailiff and Anne Rogers were impressed with Shen Yun Performing Arts’ storytelling abilities after seeing the performance at the Detroit Opera House on Sunday afternoon.
“They worked really hard to make sure we could really get the story,” said Ms. Bailiff, VP of strategic planning with Doner, one of the largest independent advertising agencies in the United States.
“Exactly, which I thought was great,” said Mrs. Rogers, a business development specialist.
Shen Yun’s mission is to take audiences on a 5,000-year journey of China’s divinely inspired culture through the performing arts—a culture almost completely wiped out due to communist policies. Shen Yun is based in America, thus the performers can present this culture to the fullest and bring it to audiences around the world.
Ms. Rogers said she found a description of the show in the program book to be true.
“It says in it you’ll feel uplifted and full of energy. I would say that’s true. It’s so positive. It really had a fabulous feel to it,” she said.
“It met or exceeded my expectations. It was really phenomenal, so I’m really glad we came.”
Shen Yun presents myths and legendary stories, both ancient and modern, through classical Chinese times. The show is rounded out by folk and ethnic dance representing China’s diverse peoples, orchestral music combining Eastern and Western instruments, opera-style vocalists, a wide array costume styles, and a huge animated backdrop.
Ms. Rogers was moved by the two pieces in the show at that depict the plight of practitioners of Falun Gong in their peaceful resistance to the modern-day persecution by the Chinese regime.
“That was really shocking to me, really moving, about the communists coming and beating people for expressing their beliefs,” she said.
Ms. Bailiff enjoyed the high-tech digital backdrop which, for many of the the 20 or so pieces, interacts with the performers.
“That’s actually my favorite thing, the video in the background and how they time it so perfectly for them to jump off the stage or jump onto the stage,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it, ever. It was brilliant.”
Her friend agreed.
“The whole thing was absolutely brilliant. The colors, all of the dancing, the beautiful outfits, just the grace of it all, and the music—everything was fabulous. But that [backdrop] added a third dimension. It was very multi-dimensional.”
Reporting by Valerie Avore and Cat Rooney
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The 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.
