PURCHASE, N.Y.—Ray DeFeis, an actor and writer, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College on April 23. Mr. DeFeis said that by the end of the first half, there were already multiple times when he wanted to stand up and say bravo.
“The precision of the dances—impeccable!” said Mr. DeFeis. “Everyone is almost identical to each other in size and form and movement. I’m watching specifically. I don’t see anyone being off-timing—everyone has perfect timing.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Now with eight equally sized companies touring the world simultaneously, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and to give its audiences a glimpse of pre-communist China.
Mr. DeFeis said that he enjoyed listening to Shen Yun’s live orchestra and expressed his delight in Shen Yun’s patented animated backdrop, which allows performers to move between the stage and the background.
“Perfect, very perfect,” said Mr. DeFeis. “The technology is beyond the imagination.”
Shen Yun’s program also includes songs performed in the traditional bel canto styles. Mr. DeFeis said that he found the song lyrics to be “very pertinent for today.”
“I love the spiritual story behind it all … I hope everyone that attends this performance can take a lesson and truly hear and see what is being said,” he said. “Be enlightened by the lesson, the moral, and the story behind it.”According to Shen Yun’s website, the foundations of traditional Chinese culture are deeply rooted in the spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. These spiritual elements are incorporated into Shen Yun’s performance.
As a Catholic, Mr. DeFeis was able to make connections between the spirituality in Chinese culture and his own perception of divine beings. Shen Yun’s name means “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” which Mr. DeFeis said “comes across very strongly” in the performance. Shen Yun’s opening piece depicts the divine beings following the Creator down to Earth to establish civilization—Mr. DeFeis said he resonated with the belief that all humans came from the Heavens.
“There is a sense of renewal,” he said. ‘I would imagine most people [will] leave with a very good sense of rebirth and renewal.”
Reporting by Sally Lin and Wandi Zhu.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
