NEW YORK—Shen Yun Performing Arts graced the stage at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater on April 28, pleasing the full house audience with its presentation of China’s 5,000-year-old culture.
Former actress Patricia Debrovner enjoyed the performance with her husband, Dr. Charles H. Debrovner, and their granddaughter Jane.
“It was amazing, their beautiful dancing, and it was very creative how they used the animated screen,” she said of Shen Yun. “Very exciting.”
Ms. Debrovner played the character Ellen Stewart in the soap opera As the World Turns from 1961 to 1987. She is now the adjunct leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture and runs play readings there.
Classical Chinese dance, one of the most expressive dance forms in the world, is at the heart of a Shen Yun performance, as well as ethnic and folk dance and story-based dance. The dancers, adorned with handmade costumes, are accompanied by an orchestra that melds both classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments, as well as digital backdrops.
The soprano and tenor solos caught Ms. Debrovner’s attention.
“It is amazing the sound that they make,” she said. “The singers did not have a microphone—it is really hard to believe—it is amazing they had that strength.”
The vocalists perform all-original compositions in Chinese while an English translation is broadcast behind them, and they also use the genuine bel canto technique.
“Shen Yun has closely studied tenor and soprano singing technique, and has a grasp of this technique and how to teach it,” explains the company’s website. “It has truly solved the technical limitations of singing in high registers. In the entire world, it is very difficult to find a genuine technique for tenor and soprano singing and this kind of teaching method.”
Dr. Debrovner, who has an office in Manhattan, said the performance was special.
“It was a treat for the eyes and for the ears,” he said. “It was wonderful to see; we would like to come back again.”
Reporting by Ivan Pentchoukov and Zachary Stieber
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. The next performances in the northeastern United States are in Philadelphia May 3-5. 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.
