NEW YORK—As the curtain fell on the final performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts’ five-show run, the audience gave the performers a standing ovation and several curtain calls. Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater will come alive again in April as Shen Yun revisits.
Fashion designer, Mrs. Bahri, and her husband Moncef Bahri, a salesman, were among the appreciative audience.
“I’m inspired by all the details,” Mrs. Bahri said. “The way they dance, the color of the dances, everything was beautiful.”
One of Shen Yun’s trademarks is handcrafted costumes. “Every costume in a Shen Yun performance is presented with brilliant colors, displaying a splendid spectacle—from the Tang Dynasty’s “Raiment of Rainbows and Feathers” to imperial dragon robes, phoenix coronets, and cloud capes, from the civil official’s headdress and robes to the warrior’s helmet and armor, and from the traditional rightward cross-collared Han clothing to the ethnic attire of the Manchurian, Tibetan, Dai, Mongol, and Uyghur ethnic groups,” Shen Yun’s website says.
“She loves the colors,” Mr. Bahri said about his wife. “The Chinese colors are very nice, very impressive.”
He said he enjoyed the performance with the silk sleeves. In that performance, titled “Sleeves of Silk”, the sleeves act as extensions of a dancer’s arms, lingering in the air long after a movement is finished. The effect is akin to fluttering wings or trailing ripples, a visual echo of the performer as she glides from one movement to the next, according to the program book.
“The choreography is fabulous,” Mr. Bahri said. “[And] the legends are very ancient.”
Mrs. Bahri agreed, adding: “I am very impressed by the ladies, the way they dance.”
Reporting by Pamela Tsai and Charlotte Cuthbertson .
New York-based Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will next perform at Providence Performing Arts Center in Rhode Island, Jan. 19.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
