“It’s very pure, very clean, and I’m enjoying so much the technique. And the training is phenomenal. Yes, I’m enjoying very much the show,” said Solovieva, who attended New York-based Shen Yun’s opening night in Las Vegas at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 27, 2020.
Solovieva was classically trained as a ballerina in Russia in the Vaganova School before she danced professionally with the Russian Classical Ballet and toured the world. “I used to be a classical dancer, that’s the interest to see Shen Yun,” Solovieva said.
“It is because it’s so honest and so lovely choreography and the costumes are very traditional, I would say, Chinese. And every single piece is just, I’m admiring the technique and the training as well,” the former dancer said.
Shen Yun’s website states, “Classical Chinese dance has its own set of training methods in basic skills and has strict training in both physical expression and specific postures. It also involves learning combinations of leaps, turns, flips, spins, and other aerial and tumbling techniques. It is a vast and independent system of dance.”
“In general, I mean, the first part of the show is just beautiful,” Solovieva went on. “Every single piece, I’m really, really appreciative and I know how hard the dancers work to perform so lightly and effortlessly. I know behind is tremendous … tremendous work and training.”
“The music is beautiful,” Solovieva said. “It’s classical music. I grew up with that. I appreciate that very much. I play piano myself until now, and all my life, so I love it. It’s a happy place. ... The classical music makes you better. Yes, it’s very, very spiritual and classical music and art makes you better as a person.”
If traditional Chinese culture could be distilled into one word, that word might be “spiritual.” China’s past was considered divinely-inspired. Shen Yun carries on that belief and tradition and shares it with the world by staging heavenly scenes, ancient legends, and even modern-day narratives about the unfortunate reality of good people of faith being persecuted in China today.
Solovieva perceived a message in Shen Yun.
“The message that we have to turn back and just live the life with the gratitude and love instead of self-influenced and being distanced from each other. That’s a good message,” she said.
About the significance of Shen Yun to today’s society and the entire world, Solovieva said, “I think American people should appreciate [Shen Yun] because we have to learn about China. I’m Russian, and so I’ve traveled all my life in different countries, people are all the same everywhere, everybody. It’s beautiful the things we share in the cultures and traditions and art. Art doesn’t have a language; it doesn’t have any boundaries. It’s so enjoyable, and you have to share with it.”
For the artistic experience and for giving her a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture, Solovieva expressed her gratitude to Shen Yun’s artists.
“I want to thank them so, so very much for a beautiful performance.”
She said she will recommend Shen Yun to others.“As soon as the show is over, I’ll talk to my best friends,” she said.
