MILAN, Italy—The theater scene in Milan is a prestigious, high-energy, and sometimes bustling hub of mingling cultures, but the dancers of New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts brought a sense of calm and tranquility when they took the stage Thursday.
After the conductor of Shen Yun’s live orchestra bowed before theatergoers at Teatro degli Arcimboldi, the curtain lifted to reveal a cloud-bedecked scene of the Chinese heavens. Smoke billowed offstage while the Creator rendezvoused with an entourage of deities, who all descended to Earth to play as actors together in China’s 5,000-year history. Shen Yun’s classical Chinese dancers then enacted myths and tales from the past right up to modern-day China.
“It really makes me think of spring, a magnificent spring,” said Marta Garaffoni, a choreographer and dance teacher who runs a dance school in Cesena, and who spoke to The Epoch Times after seeing Shen Yun.
“When you leave here, you truly feel good, because you have witnessed something truly beautiful,” she added. “In my profession, I know how challenging it is to reach such high levels of harmony.”
The aesthetic of the performance is different from contemporary shows in that Shen Yun lifts and enlightens with its striking colors. Nothing about Shen Yun is fashionably negative. It’s all positive. Garaffoni said, “Following the dance world closely, I see how in recent years in Europe—it reflects a society that is becoming increasingly dark and gloomy.”
While there are bright spots here and there, she said, these are always “mixed with a lot of darkness,” so every now and then seeing something like this “allows you to breathe, it lightens your spirit.” Then she added, “Sometimes that’s exactly what you need.”
To stay relevant, the arts in contemporary times nest themselves in reality, portraying dark worlds because the world is dark. Shen Yun does portray the real world in modern China, including a shockingly brutal scene of religious persecution. However, this is offset by Shen Yun’s overarching message of positivity, that there will be divine redemption.
This is part of what makes Shen Yun art. It transcends reality. “It’s created by people collaborating together, and that’s what art does, right?“ Garaffoni said. ”It opens your eyes to something that can transcend reality.”
Reporting by Alessandro Starnoni and Michael Wing.
