BUFFALO, N.Y.—Many theatergoers are struck by Shen Yun Performing Arts’ wide variety of vivid colors, and artist Trisha Moore is no exception. Ms. Moore, who paints in oils and acrylics, saw Shen Yun at the Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo on Friday evening.
“I loved the performance, it’s great. It’s our second year coming to see Shen Yun and we’ll definitely come again,” she said, adding that the colors in the show inspired her.
“Wonderful, wonderful. The purple, the light watercolors are beautiful. The greens, the pinks—it’s beautiful. Happy colors. And the oranges as well. It’s so regal and royal and beautiful.”
“I will be painting a lot of the colors that the dancers were wearing tonight.”
Ms. Moore paints lotuses, so it’s no surprise that she particularly enjoyed Lotus Fairies, a dreamlike piece in which the dancers hold long silken fans and glide across the stage, symbolizing the purity and perfection of the lotus.
She was also taken with several other pieces.
“I definitely liked the Journey to the West stories with the Monkey King,” she said.
“I liked the story about the mother and the daughter with the compassion and everything. It was very heartbreaking but very beautiful. And again at the end when, when Buddha came down and the compassion of Buddha.”
New York-based Shen Yun excels at taking stories and legends from China’s 5,000-year history and presenting them to audiences through music and dance. The company’s unique animated backdrops interact with the dancers to help tell these stories, something that impressed Ms. Moore.
“It just makes you feel that you’re there–that things are happening and you’re right in the center of all the stories. It makes me want to go home and paint actually.”
The costumes in the show, ranging from simple to elaborate, also came in for praise.
“The costumes were absolutely amazing,” she said. “Very flowing, and the movements with the dance is just perfect for it. I love the long sleeves, the flowing scarves—beautiful, absolutely beautiful.”
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive the 5,000 years of authentic traditional Chinese culture that has been all but lost under decades of communist rule. The heart and soul of this ancient culture can be found in principles such as compassion, justice, and respect for the heavens, as explained on the Shen Yun website.
This divine element of the true Chinese culture stood out for Ms. Moore as well.
“Very, very spiritual,” she said.
“There’s so much I’ll take home tonight I don’t even know where to begin. So many beautiful things, I think I’ll be having pleasant dreams for a long time.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Joan Delaney
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.
