SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘A Great Broadening Experience,’ Says Doctor in North Dakota of Shen Yun

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‘A Great Broadening Experience,’ Says Doctor in North Dakota of Shen Yun
Dr. Christopher Lockhart with his mother, Judy Lockhart, at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Chester Fritz Auditorium in Grand Forks, N.D., on March 2, 2022. Sherry Dong/The Epoch Times
GRAND FORKS, N.D.—The joy of dancers in perfect unison and the sound of a live ensemble brought warmth to theatergoers attending Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Chester Fritz Auditorium in North Dakota on March 2.

Christopher Lockhart, a doctor and musician, attended the performance with his mother, Judy Lockhart, and expressed that he could see the collective determination of the artists of Shen Yun.

“I think that anytime you have a group of people together who are collectively praying or experiencing something that touches their soul, something magical happens,” Mr. Lockhart said.

He expressed his gratitude to New York-based Shen Yun for coming to Grand Forks and giving the city a greater sense of diversity.
“It’s wonderful because we’re rather isolated in this part of the country. There’s perhaps not as much ethnic diversity as there might be on the coasts. So it’s a great broadening experience for us to be able to have people from another culture come and let us experience what is tradition for them that we might not otherwise get a chance to see,” he said.

The cold weather in Grand Forks gave Mr. Lockhart an extra appreciation for Shen Yun’s “Plum Blossom” dance. Plum blossoms are known for blooming spectacularly in the cold of late winter.

“I think that spring is so intoxicating here upon the cold prairie that when the trees start to blossom in the spring, as perhaps they do in China, when they were shaking their pink and golden fans, that reminded me of the way that the blossoms tremble here in the spring breezes, and that’s something that we share with them,” he said.

I'm hearing percussion and string instruments that are native to China that we don't usually have here.
Dr. Christopher Lockhart
Mr. Lockhart has a degree in piano performance and expressed his appreciation for the Shen Yun Orchestra.

“I’m enjoying it very much. I think that it has some of the traditional fullness and sound that I’m used to hearing as a performer. But then I think that it sounds so authentic. I’m hearing percussion and string instruments that are native to China that we don’t usually have here,” he said.

The instruments that he was referring to are the two-stringed erhu and the pipa. The Shen Yun Orchestra also uses a range of Chinese percussion instruments.
Mr. Lockhart appreciated that the music was presented by a live orchestra.

“I think that it’s completely different because the music is live rather than recorded. The instrumentalists put their own spirit into the sound that’s created fresh, just for this moment. And it comes to us and I feel it too,” he said.

Reporting by Sherry Dong and Maria Han.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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