LOS ANGELES—Jack Berger, doctor and department head at the University of Southern California, and the seven in his party were among theatergoers seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company. They attended the Jan. 27th sold-out performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. “Loved it, it’s great,” Dr. Berger said.
New York-based Shen Yun has three complete dance companies and tours to about 100 cities and 20 countries each year. Its mission is to revitalize China’s divinely inspired culture, which spans 5,000 years. Shen Yun has been performing to sold-out venues everywhere.
Classical Chinese dance has a long history of thousands of years, passed down continuously within the imperial palace and ancient Chinese theater and opera,” states the website.
“The costumes are beautiful and… the dance moves, having been a dancer before and a gymnast, the things that they did, I’m not sure that everybody can appreciate how difficult it is to do those moves, particularly in costumes. My grandkids loved it too,” Dr. Berger went on to say.
In speaking of his time as gymnast, Dr. Berger was referring to the difficult technical feats that are part of classical Chinese dance. It includes leaps, spin and aerial flips.
“The orchestra was excellent,” said Dr. Berger adding that he “liked everything about the show.”
What makes Shen Yun’s orchestra unique is the harmonizing of the disparate sounds of the East and West, creating one completely new sound that offers an ethereal quality often leaving the audience in awe.
“Every costume in a Shen Yun performance is presented with brilliant colors, displaying a splendid spectacle and with state-of-the-art graphics technology, Shen Yun’s digital-backdrop team creates vividly animated settings, extending the stage and transporting the audience to a world where heaven and earth are one,” according to its website.
“Spectacular,” is how Dr. Berger would describe Shen Yun to his friends, saying “the costumes and the dancing and the way they use the screen in the background, the projection … was very, very interesting.”
“Classical Chinese dance has become a complete system of dance embodying traditional aesthetic principles with its unique dance movements, rhythms, and inner meaning,” states its website.
“Dancing and music are all part of the human experience,” said Dr. Berger and by “just watching that you feel a part of it.” Dr. Berger said the performance left him feeling happy, “and it was very enjoyable.”
After seeing the video clips of Shen Yun, Dr. Berger felt it would be nice to bring his two grandchildren, his daughter, wife, and two friends. Adding that his wife was “trying to get pictures of the costumes because she likes all the colors and she’s thinking of having a dress made with those colors.”
With reporting by Jana Li and Maria Banks.
Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company now travels to Australia where they will perform in Brisbane Feb. 1 to Feb. 3 and then onto New Zealand. Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing A
