NEW YORK—Shen Yun Performing Arts took the stage at Lincoln Center on Friday evening to a sold out audience, the third in as many days.
“It was quite a different art form,” said Oglivia Gibson, a retired arts education liaison for the New York City school system. “Classical, very sophisticated, creative, very agile, very exciting,” she described the performance.
New York-based Shen Yun criss-crosses the globe with one mission: to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture after it was nearly decimated by more than six decades of communist rule in China, says its website.
“It is very sad that they can’t do that in their country,” she said, “but that they share it with us, so maybe that freedom can come through others sharing.”
Ms. Gibson remarked that she enjoyed the entire performance, seeing a story from beginning to end.
Shen Yun uses classical Chinese dance, as well as ethnic and folk dance, and story-based dance, to transport the audience through time and space, according to Shen Yun’s website.
“Classical Chinese dance is rich with expressive power,” says the website. “Through expression ofbearing and form, beautiful dance movements bring out the inner meaning of intrinsic thoughts and feelings, reflecting the peculiarities of human nature, the standard for human conduct, moral concepts, mental state, one’s value system, and so on.”
An orchestra that melds classical Chinese instruments—including the 4,000 year old erhu, or two-stringed Chinese violin—and classical Western instruments accompanies the dancers.
“I liked the orchestra, they were very exciting,” said Ms. Gibson. “The sounds were quite unique—to hear other instruments, and anything I wasn’t familiar with, was very exciting for me. “
Traditional Chinese culture draws upon the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism. “Under the influence of these faiths, Chinese culture has spawned a rich and profound system of values,” says Shen Yun’s website. The values include benevolence, wisdom, honor, and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the heavens.
“[Chinese] history is quite unique,” said Ms. Gibson. “Lots of elements that I didn’t know were a part of their culture, like the magical parts. I am American, so that is very different for me.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Zack Stieber.
New York-based Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at New York’s Lincoln Center through Jan. 15.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
