SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

West Australian Artist Sees a Palette of Colour in Shen Yun

May 03, 2014
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West Australian Artist Sees a Palette of Colour in Shen Yun
Lucy Papalia enjoys Shen Yun Performing Arts, at Perth’s Regal Theatre, on May 2. (Courtesy of NTD Television)

PERTH, Australia—“The show was beautiful. The show is exquisite. The colour, the costumes!” exclaimed well-known water colorist Lucy Papalia after watching Shen Yun Performing Arts, at Perth’s Regal Theatre, on May 2.

Based in New York, Shen Yun was established by artists from around the world to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. Shen Yun’s varied dances are accompanied by the Shen Yun Performing Arts Orchestra, a unique blend of Western and Chinese instruments. A state-of-the-art digital backdrop, vivid costumes, and music soloists round out the presentation.

It was the the colours that stood out for Ms. Papalia,

“The complimentary colours are beautiful throughout the whole show. Absolutely beautiful, I loved the colour in the costumes … the use of the strong bold colour throughout the show must portray something very interesting with the culture that you have—very, very interesting,” said Ms. Papalia.

Ms. Papalia is a member of several art clubs including the West Australian Society of Arts and the Watercolour Society of WA where she has served as president. She specialises in water colours and teaches the subject.

At the heart of the performance is classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in existence.

“Just watching the precision was very interesting for me. Also the different style compared to traditional ballet that I’ve seen. To see another culture’s way of doing classical performing dance -that to me was extremely interesting; it was a different way of portraying dance. I just thought it was quite exquisite,” she said.

In one piece titled Lotus Fairies dancers holding long silken fans glide across the stage like celestial fairies.

“I want one of those fans. I'd like to have one of those fans, they’re absolutely beautiful. The costumes were exquisite,” said Ms. Papalia.

She was also aware of the talent among the musicians in the East-West orchestra.

“I really appreciated the music that went with it. There is a lot of talent in the musicians [of] the orchestra. They were fantastic, so in time, so good,” said Ms. Papalia.

“There was nothing about the show I didn’t like. I enjoyed it immensely. It was well worth coming here to see. I'd say, you must go see the show—it was lovely.”

Reporting by NTD Television and Christine Ford

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.

The 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