NORFOLK, Va.—On April 22, Glenn Butorac, a leader in Housing and Urban Development, and insurance advisor Monica Goolsby attended Shen Yun Performing Arts’ evening show at the Chrysler Hall. It was the couple’s first experience with traditional Chinese culture, and they found it thoroughly enjoyable.
“It was very captivating. I enjoyed the culture, the history lesson, and the talent,” Mr. Butorac said.
“I was so impressed with the orchestra because I thought they were [recorded]. … I didn’t realize they were really down there. It was that good. It was just outstanding.”
“It was so beautiful,” Ms. Goolsby chimed in.
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company.
Its orchestra is the first in the world to permanently combine the best of Eastern and Western musical traditions. Using a Western orchestra as a foundation, the original compositions feature traditional Chinese melodies and instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and pipa, an ancient lute.
“I love music, and I love it, and I enjoy it,” Mr. Butorac added. “It was just wonderful. I would listen to them. The show was absolutely great. I thought it was very interesting how they broke down each story.”
“Each [piece] had a story and a meaning and a purpose, and it brought forth [China’s] culture and your traditions. It was just very enlightening for somebody that’s not exposed to Chinese culture as much. It was very interesting.”
He found the dances both thought-provoking and inspiring.
“It brought some things that I wouldn’t have typically thought of. I thought that maybe it would be just more of a show with dance, but it was actually a story, and it was emotional. You could tell that they spent a lot of time practicing, a lot of time rehearsing,” Mr. Butorac shared.
They were “spot on with the timing. Just every aspect of it, everything from their movements—[without any spoken dialogue], you know what they were saying through their movements, their expressions. It was just wonderful.”
The artists are masters of classical Chinese dance, an ancient and highly expressive art form dating back thousands of years. Unlike the modern, military-influenced styles often seen in China today, Shen Yun preserves and performs this tradition in its most authentic form, as it was originally passed down through generations.
Mr. Butorac was wowed by the dancers’ skill and talent.
“Wonderful. ... I’ve been to operas before, and I’ve been to plays before, but I’ve never seen that many people on stage at once. [They were] in tune and in step and in line. It was just phenomenal.”
Reflecting on the company’s mission to revive China’s 5,000-year-old traditional culture and spiritual values, Mr. Butorac said he could feel the sincerity behind the performance.
“I felt the culture, I felt their traditions. You can tell that they’re very wonderful people that believe in their beliefs. They have good beliefs, and they cultivate it, and they share it with others through their dancing and music. It was wonderful,” he said.
The show “spoke to my heart and it made me want to come back again. It really did.”
