GLASGOW, UK—John Laird brought his mother, Christine, to see a lovely performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the SEC Armadillo theater on February 7.
Mrs. Laird said it was “absolutely fantastic. That’s the second time I’ve seen it and will be back for the third time soon. It’s brilliant. Absolutely brilliant, highly recommended.”
Mr. Laird, lead credit partner in corporate banking at Metro Bank before retiring, said it was his first time and he enjoyed himself. “I did. It’s very colorful. It’s an interesting story with the Chinese culture. It was really enjoyable.”
“I think it shows the best of China,” he said. “I think the message is quite clear that that should be allowed to happen.”
Mr. Laird liked many of the dances, especially “the one with the water sleeves. That one, I think, was just particularly moving,” he said.
Many audiences have been awed by Shen Yun’s patented digital backdrop, which interacts with the dancers. During the dances, performers jump in and out of the wonderful landscape of the dance.
Mrs. Laird said she liked “the figures coming out of the screen. Magic, absolutely magic. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was superb. I’ve been retired for about 15 years.”
Part of the Shen Yun performance is a live orchestra that incorporates both Eastern and Western instruments. The orchestra supports the dances.
Mrs. Laird said the music was “lovely. Goes with the scene. Everything’s perfect, absolutely perfect.”
A solo musician performs on a two-string Chinese instrument called the erhu. “That was interesting, as well. It was it was all very well put together,” Mr. Laird said.
Soloists also perform original music, which Mrs. Laird enjoyed. “Last year we were here, we didn’t have the solo singer,” she said. “Beautiful. A lovely voice, super voice. Absolutely wonderful.”
New York-based Shen Yun’s mission is to revive and share 5,000 years of Chinese civilization before communism. Many stories and legends carry a spiritual and moral message that is relevant today, and Mrs. Laird agreed.
“Absolutely,” Mr. Laird said and noted that, unfortunately, Shen Yun is banned in China. “You can tell that because they couldn’t show that show in China.”
Mr. Laird expressed his appreciation to the performers for their hard work in putting Shen Yun together.
“I just think you need to thank [the performers] for a wonderful show and the effort they put into it. The athleticism of the dancers, the quality of the musicians is all very, very high,” he said.
