“It was really wonderful,” said Saito Yoshiko, director of a health and beauty company.
“Every artist was outstanding. They were expressing the greatness of their own national culture. I think this is very important to every country,” she said.
The tradition and culture are transmitted to audiences primarily through classical Chinese dance, one of the most expressive dance forms in the world, allowing legends, anecdotes from history, and tales from modern times to be told.
“I sincerely hope that this great tradition can always be cherished,” Ms. Saito said.
She was also impressed by Shen Yun’s orchestra which seamlessly combines a classic Western ensemble and traditional Chinese instruments.
“The performance of the orchestra is also amazing. In short, the quality of the performance is really high. All the artists ... must have gone through very hard training,” she said.
Ms. Saito expressed that Shen Yun’s efforts to revive Chinese culture make people more aware of their own history and tradition, and this is valuable to the Japanese people.
Cherishing Traditional Culture
Having seen an earlier Shen Yun performance a decade ago, Okuda Yoshiki, who owns an accounting firm, said he was glad to be able to come back and bring his family to experience Shen Yun together.
He had high praise for the Shen Yun orchestra.
“Eastern and Western musical instruments go well together. I think they blend very naturally and cleverly. The sound of the pipa is very distinctive, and the sound of the erhu is also very vibrant, which makes people feel like they are in China. … The music and dance are also very well matched,” he said.
“I hope this kind of performance can be performed in China as soon as possible. We need to cherish [traditional] culture,” Mr. Okuda said.
‘The Performance Is Wonderful’
Akiyama Takae, director of Nagoya Central Dental Hospital, was very happy to have had the chance to see Shen Yun.
“The performance is wonderful,” Mr. Akiyama said. “The artists’ physical ability and the use of colors were excellent, which left a deep impression on me.”
He was also impressed by Shen Yun’s patented digital backdrops, which extend the stage endlessly and allow the dancers to go anywhere in the world, and beyond.
“I was deeply impressed by the visual effects, exquisite creativity, and the performers’ superb training,” he said. “The background images and the dance movements worked perfectly together.”
Mr. Akiyama’s wife, Akiyama Kazue, admired Shen Yun as well. She said that she had seen many well-known performances around the world, but Shen Yun’s performance brought her particular surprise and enjoyment.
“The overall quality of the performance was very high, … very outstanding, I was deeply moved,” she said.
The moment that the curtain went up, it “touched people’s hearts, not only visually, but also physically.”
“It was like being surrounded by music. It was a very beautiful feeling and moved me deeply,” she said.
According to Shen Yun’s website, the “orchestra seamlessly [blends] the grandeur of a Western orchestra with the ethereal beauty of Chinese melodies, the music’s profound emotional range truly captures the depth of the human experience.”
“All the dancers were very coordinated and full of energy. The youthful vitality seemed to affect everyone. I felt the power of youth, and my mood was completely alleviated,” she said.
