PARIS—For consultant Christian Juhle, Shen Yun Performing Arts was an experience of “very, very high” artistic levels.
“Truly breathtaking!” Mr. Juhle said after seeing the performance at the Palais des Congrès in Paris on Friday, May 2.
This corporate real estate consultant and lecturer in corporate finance at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers explains: “I thought it was a really, really good show. Really wonderful! Lots of light, lots of color, with extraordinary special effects, including computer-generated images and people matching each other.”
“These are dancers who are extraordinary, who really have a very, very good level and who are really very, very strong.”
In ancient times, China was known by names such as the “Land of the Divine,” because the ancient Chinese believed that their culture had been bequeathed to them by the heavens. Today, reviving 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture, Shen Yun places spirituality and connection to the divine at the heart of its dancing and singing performances.
“In the numbers, you could feel the passage to the divine, and you could feel the representation with the divine,” Mr. Juhle said.
The business leader believes that “now we lack spirituality,” so “we’re looking for spirituality, and why not this link with the divine now.”
Mr. Charté, an insurer from Blois, appreciated the “remarkable precision in gestures, in body language. It’s magnificent!”
“The artistic level is remarkable. They’re all exactly in sync,” he said, adding that he felt ”a lot of energy at the show, you can feel it. It’s very strong.”
Mr. Charté said he could feel the connection to the divine “right from the start of the show.
“You can see the relationship between the elements and the people. Yes, I found that remarkable.
“We’re in a world where we need traditions and values to get us back on the right track, because the world is going a bit crazy at the moment. And this kind of show brings back elements that we’re not used to seeing,” added Mr. Charté.
Claude Richet was attending Shen Yun for the second time.
“Wonderful, astonishing. It’s completely different. We’re still under the spell,” enthused this former physiotherapist and acupuncturist.
“You create a climate every minute that’s very dense, very deep, where we see, not gymnastics, as the presenters said but, a deep emotion, of what’s going on. It’s a way of expressing a great many things to achieve universal peace.”
“At the same time, there’s lightness with the comedy of the restaurant scene, for example,” Mr. Richet said. “You can’t help but embrace everything [Shen Yun] does, with naturally everyone’s sensibility going to be much more interested in some parts than others.”
Mr. Richet said the performance left him feeling “kindness for everyone.”
“When you take a kind of rejuvenating bath like we have here, you don’t want to return to the modern world,” he added.
