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WORCESTER, Ma.—It was the perfect marriage between art and history that brought Professor Lance Lazar, Marieke Peleman, and their children to Shen Yun Performing Arts at Worcester's Hanover Theater on Thurs. Feb. 10. They had seen an advertisement for the show through the Hanover Theater and were immediately intrigued.
Professor Lazar, who teaches European History at Assumption College in Worcester, expressed his appreciation for the cultural performance.
“I enjoyed it very much. I love the costumes and the colorful dances and all of the ethnic variety that you get,” he said.
Marieke Peleman, born in Belgium, is the Director of Marketing at Benefactor Travel by Hamilton Fitzjames. The European company specializes in creating custom-designed travel programs around the fine arts, and organizes events for major benefactors, trustees, boards of directors and collectors’ committees of cultural institutions. She has had a lifelong fascination with Chinese culture, even studying Mandarin in college.
“It's very bright, the colors are very bright, very Chinese,” she said.
Ms. Peleman says that they brought their children to Shen Yun for an important cultural learning experience.
“Our children should know about different cultures. China is very different from here.”
Due to her love of traditional Chinese literature, Ms. Peleman recognized some of the characters in Shen Yun from her beloved books. One of these was the Monkey King, an epic character from legendary novel Journey to the West. A dance in the show tells of the Monkey King's harrowing journey to find sacred Buddhist scrolls, and the dynamic challenges he overcomes along the way. It is these stories of traditional Chinese virtues such as courage, wisdom, and morality, that Shen Yun brings to the audience.
“I enjoy all the expressiveness of the dancing,' said Professor Lazar, “The facial expressions—they're so readable. You don't need to speak the language. You can follow the story and the plot because the gestures are so clear.”
Shen Yun is currently touring the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and dance. Its grand productions feature story-based dance, a full orchestra, and hi-tech digital backdrops, which come together to delight audiences while expressing true art forms.
All of the dances in Shen Yun are introduced in both English and Mandarin, in order to bring the beauty and universality of traditional Chinese culture to diverse audiences worldwide.
Reporting by Timothy Pi and Justina Wheale.
With three companies on tour simultaneously, Shen Yun will round out the month with performances in five more U.S. cities as well as Sydney, Australia, and Frankfurt, Germany. For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
