LOS ANGELES—Filmmaker Dylan Snyder and actress Allisyn Snyder received tickets for Shen Yun Performing Arts as a birthday present and eagerly attended the company’s evening show at the Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Jan. 23.
The couple was especially moved by the piece where the dancers’ long sleeves billowed and flowed like the gentle movement of water on stage. According to Shen Yun’s website, these sleeves were a part of ancient Chinese feminine attire representing humility and grace.
“It was something I had never seen before,” Ms. Snyder said. “I thought the colors of all the costumes were just very captivating and that was just the most entrancing dance.”
“The moment when all of the sleeves went up at the same time for the first time,” Mr. Snyder said, then added, “it made me tear up. It was really gorgeous.”
As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, China’s 5,000 years of history is filled with breathtaking legends and rich traditions. Yet, within just a few decades of the Chinese Communist Party’s rise to power, this magnificent culture was almost completely destroyed.
Today, the New York-based Shen Yun is working to revive this lost civilization and bring back to the world through dance and music, the beauty of China before communism.
Mr. Snyder said in the piece “Peacock Paradise” that the curtain rose and as fog came out, it was “just gorgeous and monumental.”
What surprised Ms. Snyder most was how seamlessly Shen Yun’s innovative 3D digital backdrop interacted with the dancers on stage, guiding audiences through stories from ancient times to the present.
“That caught me off guard,” she said. “It’s a nice little magic trick. I was surprised by the amount of humor, too.”
She particularly appreciated learning about the divine dimension of traditional Chinese culture and praised Shen Yun’s singer, who sings a Chinese song in the traditional bel canto style to explore life’s deeper meaning.
“It was very well done,” she said. “I think the message resonated the most when it was just one singer and one pianist on stage, and you see the lyrics on screen.”
“It really encapsulates what all the dances and everything are about. Then when you’re watching the dances, you more just feel the message,” she said.
Mr. Synder said he enjoyed seeing dances from China’s diverse ethnic groups, adding that Shen Yun “shows you the differences in mentality and mindset between all the groups.”
Reflecting on the evening, Ms. Snyder said Shen Yun “made my night.”
“We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly,” Mr. Snyder added.
