SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is ‘Amazingly Done…I’m Really Impressed,’ Says Award-Winning Filmmaker

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Shen Yun Is ‘Amazingly Done…I’m Really Impressed,’ Says Award-Winning Filmmaker
Douglas Corcoran (L) and Lorene Yoxtheimer enjoyed Shen Yun's evening performance at the Chester Fritz Auditorium on April 14, 2024. Lily Yu/The Epoch Times

GRAND FORKS, N.D.—Award-winning filmmaker Douglas Corcoran, known for his work in “The Midwest Ice Age” and “Dragonfly,” attended Shen Yun’s performance at the Chester Fritz Auditorium on April 14. Accompanying him for the evening was his wife, Lorene Yoxtheimer, who is a physician.

“It’s colorful, it’s beautiful, it’s very nice,” Mr. Corcoran said.

“I think it’s amazing. Human expression through movement can be breathtaking or it can be very, very bad. [Shen Yun] is doing a very good job—they’re actually conveying what they want to convey, and you can see it through the movements.”
Founded by leading Chinese artists who had fled persecution by China’s communist regime, Shen Yun Performing Arts’ mission is to bring back China’s lost culture and showcase the beauty of China before communism.
Every year, the New York-based performing arts company presents a brand-new set of programs to audiences in prestigious venues around the world.
Mr. Corcoran was also amazed by Shen Yun’s “color coordination with the costume design” and the company’s patented 3D technology that seamlessly combines live action on stage with the animated backdrop.

“I’m really impressed with the animated background. I think that’s really nice how they’ve incorporated that. I haven’t seen that before, so it’s very impressive.”

Though Shen Yun has met with global acclaim since its founding in 2006, it is currently banned by the Chinese Communist Party from performing in China.

“It’s frustrating to think that people are still living that way today,” Ms. Yoxtheimer noted. “[Shen Yun] is good because not only is it art, but it also demonstrates how, in some parts of the world, art is still being suppressed.”

Mr. Corcoran saw, through the performance, “the struggles that Chinese people are having between living their lives, their art, their truth and [their reality of] being held back or stopped [by the government.]”

Yet, there was also incredible beauty and spirituality. He loved how the images of heaven and the earth were shifted across the backdrop. “It’s a neat little touch. Something I haven’t seen before. I do enjoy that.”
Ms. Yoxtheimer, too, “saw a lot of hope in [Shen Yun’s] message.”

“It celebrates beauty and the enjoyment of beauty around us. It’s like celebrating everyday life—sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we’re doing that we don’t stop to celebrate the flowers or even just passing inspection at restaurants,” she said, referring to Shen Yun’s story-based dance recounting the ins and outs of a little restaurant.

The couple will recommend Shen Yun to all their friends one hundred percent.

“I would say, ‘The show is going around the country, and you have to see it. The dancing is beautiful, and I think there’s a great message of beauty and hope,” Ms. Yoxtheimer said.

Shen Yun is amazingly done. They did a fantastic job. Their training—you can definitely see that they work hard at it, and they do a very good job,” Mr. Corcoran added.

“I’ve been through some of those classes and I couldn’t handle it. I was in a play last year where I had a little bit of movement but that took enough out of me. So, to be able to do all of this on stage is absolutely impressive.”

Reporting by Lily Yu and Jennifer Tseng.  
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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