NEW YORK—Michael Bushnell, chief technology officer and professor emeritus from Rutgers University, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the David H. Koch Theater on April 4.
“I haven’t seen anything like it before,” he said.
“We’re used to Chinese communism being totally atheist and pretty much centered around the Han minority rather than handling the various ethnic groups. So I appreciate the emphasis on the Chinese ethnic population as well,” he said.
Drawing upon ancient China’s Buddhist and Daoist philosophies, Shen Yun says its performances demonstrate “China before communism.”
“The precision of the dancers is quite amazing,” he said. “I notice they jump over a ridge there, and then the animation picks up their motion. So, it’s quite sophisticated.”
‘It Moved Us From Beginning to End’
Peter Bickel, CEO of a global health company, also saw Shen Yun for the first time at the David H. Koch Theater on April 4.
“The experience was more than I had even expected,” Mr. Bickel said, “I absolutely loved every moment of it.”
“First time to see it, but I'll definitely be back to see it again,” he said.
His only criticism was that the performance went too quickly. “It went by too fast … I enjoyed it that much,” he said.
Aside from the choreography and music, Mr. Bickel said the special effects “were the icing on the cake.”
Having traveled to China on numerous occasions, Mr. Bickel was impressed with the level of sophistication and accuracy in the animated backdrop.
Reminiscing over the photos he took of China, he said one of the dance story’s backdrops reminded him of Shanghai in the second half of the show.
“It really looks like a lot of photos of Shanghai and the river. … It was very well done,” he said.
“You can understand why it’s so successful and why it’s been going on for 20 years and will go on for many more,” Mr. Bickel said.
“There’s a lot more countries that should be exposed to seeing it because it really is a spectacular performance, and it moved us from beginning to the end,” he added.
“The amount of work that’s involved to create such a wonderful production … everybody really deserves accolades … everyone was spectacular,” he said. “Definitely look forward to coming back.”
