LOS ANGELES—A Shen Yun Performing Arts performance often leaves its audience members in amazement of its beauty. Such was the case on April 23, when theme park designer Phil Hettema took in a performance at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
“It’s amazing. It’s quite beautiful,” said Mr. Hettema, who has worked on projects for Universal Studios, and admits that he gets his job inspiration from watching Shen Yun perform. “Both the tradition and the beauty of the dances are really remarkable.”
New York-based Shen Yun, renowned for its classical Chinese dance, has been wowing people like Mr. Hettema all over the world for a decade. According to its website, the New York-based company is bringing back the once-divine culture that was China’s to theater-goers everywhere—except in China itself, where recent communist campaigns like the Cultural Revolution were unleashed to uproot those old beliefs and destroy the culture’s treasures as if to erase China’s ancient civilization from the annals of history.
Through music and dance, a Shen Yun performance takes its viewers on a journey through 5,000 years of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and heroic tales that made up that rich culture—a culture that’s been lost over the last half-century of communist rule in China.
The dancing in particular is what Shen Yun is really known for. It’s very rigorous—with tumbling techniques like flips, spins, and leaps—yet at the same time expressive, which allows for storytelling through the dancers’ movements.
It’s something that’s certainly not lost on the audience.
“The quality of the dance, and the beautiful choreography, and the really beautiful staging,” said Mr. Hettema, when asked what stood out the most in this performance.
In addition to the dancing, an accompanying orchestra combines the beauty of Chinese music with the power of a Western orchestra to produce one grand sound, while a unique animated backdrop helps Shen Yun tell the story of China’s history.
“It’s really impressive,” said Mr. Hettema. “I think anybody that’s interested in culture and dance would want to make sure to see a performance like this.”
Reporting by Yaning Liu and Dave Martin
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
