LOS ANGELES—Shen Yun, as only great art can do, touches some people in ways beyond the ordinary, such that they see more and experience more than meets the eye.
“It is beyond divine beauty: it is divine touch, divine sight, divine hearing, and divine speech—it is all the divine that comes through,” said, Ms. Robyn Ridgley, a writer, producer, and former Congressional executive.
“How it connects, is the way that only the divine works—through people’s hearts and spirits, when they recognize it—and Shen Yun gives it, in a massive, massive, massive, presentation.”
On Saturday afternoon, Jan. 13, Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company graced the stage of the elegant Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to a sold-out house. Eager theatergoers experienced the delight and majesty of China’s 5,000-year-old heritage, through classical Chinese dance, music, and mythology.
“We saw it last year and we are moved by the spirit behind it, which is easy to feel because of the beauty. Shen Yun means ‘Divine Dancing.’ Well it is there!” she said, excitedly.
“I feel it with every part of my spirit, as every one in the auditorium does,” said Ms. Ridgley.
For Ms. Ridgley, the power of Shen Yun was there right from the beginning performance.
“I felt the angelic spirit come the moment the curtain opened and there was a light. And I felt it in everything, in the movement, and especially in the living dancers’ faces,” she said.
“The living presence of the divine—the imagery on the screen was beautiful augmentation for me—but the magic of the divine, or the living presence, came through the dancers’ faces, and the movement itself, for me.”
She also felt strongly about the importance of Shen Yun and its mission to revive China’s traditional culture.
“It is something that one day [I’m] going to plan to make a large donation to help, because it is so wonderful and very inspiring,” Ms. Ridgley mused.
“What you are doing is in perfection and big. Somehow if the divine uses me to do it, I would like to make it even bigger. I was an executive in the United States Congress at one time. We learned about the issues firsthand when I was in Washington, D.C., many years ago. Then we moved back here. I heard about this I knew I had to go see it,” said the producer.
The production, overall, says Ms. Ridgley, “is perfect. It is beautiful. The costumes, everything is perfect. The production is perfect in every way.”
“The choreography is flawless. Something that I loved after seeing it last year for the first time, I could recognize some of my favorite dancers by their faces and there are a couple of new ones.”
Ms. Ridgley continued describing Mu Guiying Commands the Troops, choreographed by Michelle Ren, “When she takes up her husband’s sword to lead the army, the dancer who played the widow is my favorite and I recognize her from last year. The choreography—well it is Shen Yun, it is the divine working through dance
“I loved everything. The spirit of the dancers, it is in their faces, their eyes. You feel Shen Yun. As I said before it is not just the dance, it is the vehicle to move the spirit through all of the senses. We could feel that we were touched, our eyes, even the scent in the air. I cannot even explain it. It touches every part of the being where the divine is and awakens that.”
How would she describe Shen Yun to others? “It is something that they just have to see.”
“In describing it to my friends, it is spirit in performance. It is the divine in a performance through dance and song.”
Reporting by Gary Du, NTD Television and Masha Savitz
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world.
Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will next perform in San Diego Jan 19-22.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
