United States: Shen Yun Performing Arts Spring Tour 2009 Performance Impresses Escondido's Arts Community: Dancer

The final Shen Yun Performing Arts Spring Tour 2009 presentation on the West Coast was enthusiastically responded to by an appreciative audience, as it stopped this time in Escondido.

Over past several months, Shen Yun has touched the hearts of countless audience members worldwide, spanning four continents. This last show was held at the California Center for the Arts.

Mr. Wells, a former professional dancer and singer, and Mr. Cosaert, who is a writer and involved with other forms of arts, wanted to share that they loved the Shen Yun performance and that they wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Mr. Cosaert said, "The last scene [Dragon Springs Drummers], was really cool. Probably, the way I grew up, I always associate drums with kind of hope and war and what-not. It was very empowering. It instilled a lot of courage。"

Mr. Wells was profoundly impressed with the implications behind the dance "The Loyalty of Yue Fei." "The one about the soldier - I thought it was really good, the way the actors conveyed it, because it was really obvious that he was saying, 'No, no. I want to stay with you and want to watch [over] you,' but the mother was saying, 'No, you have to go for honor.' So it was really good the way they acted it."

The scene, "A Dunhuang Dream," also impressed the two friends deeply. In this performance, a sculptor who is struggling to complete a sacred statue falls asleep and in his dream, the statues come to life and show him that he has truly created masterpieces of divine beings. "The sculptor's dream, it was just neat. Everything that went on in the background kind of left me speechless," Mr. Wells said.

Mr. Cosaert agreed, "I really liked that one too, and I think what I liked about it is that I draw a lot, so I create characters all the time, and it would be amazing to see your characters come to life like that. So, for him to have inspiration, thinking 'Oh, I am feeling so uninspired, so tired,' and then he sees his characters come to life and inspire him to keep going was really cool."

Ballet Teacher: Shen Yun Has "Lots of really positive, uplifting messages"

Ms. Darosa, who said she has "been dancing all of my life," attended the performance. She currently teaches ballet.

She felt that Shen Yun was a complete portrayal of China's millennia-old history. "I felt like I was travelling through China. And then the colours were beautiful. The presentation and everything was really beautiful."

Ms. Darosa, "really liked the ... dance with the long, brown sleeves - very beautiful - one of my favourites," she said.

Ms. Darosa noted the performances were "very graceful, very complete, very symmetrical. I think that was one of the first things I noticed for that. Wow, [the dancing] is all the way through, down to the fingertips - the digits - I thought was really nice. I would say, the use of the costumes and how it translated into the movements. I thought that was really impressive."

She was aware of, "lots of golden messages like staying true in terms of truth and in terms of not being swayed into bad paths or deception, being alert, and also being compassionate."

She said Shen Yun had "lots of really positive, uplifting messages. But it was very real as well. It also talked about suffering and struggle, but at the same time there was a strong message, an uplifting message. So, that was really nice. I felt like through the entire production there were messages and there was a kind of opening into the spiritual aspect of the performance. I really liked that."

Dancer Says Shen Yun Is "A beautiful way of harmony"

Ms. Lee, a dancer, was greatly pleased to have seen Shen Yun. "I enjoyed this show so much. First of all, it's amazing and the fantastic costumes. It's also spiritual movements through that - with our customs, which tells us to release our anger and our sadness. It gives me a chance to understand what communism has done to China. It's a music and dance and feature the artists completed, and then it's a beautiful way of harmony - plus the colour of costumes. It has made a fantastic show. Thank you so much!"

Shen Yun Dancers Have "beauty and grace"

Among the audience was Ms. Padranas, a semi-professional ballerina, and her sister Ms. Arriaga, who both appreciated the performance. Ms. Padranas noticed, "The positions are spectacular, everything, from the choreography, the costumes, everything ... The male dancers are very strong - fabulous, fabulous! The presentation was really great, the way it formed a history of the country."

Ms. Arriaga said, "Having the male and female commentators, introducing each act, was critical and helped you understand what was going on. And I have to agree about the costumes. The costumes were wonderful, and seeing the femininity, but also the strength at the same time with the performers, especially the female performers."

Ms. Padranas felt that both male and female dancers possessed both "beauty and grace." She shared that she "almost cried" at certain points in the show and felt the show carried a good message behind it.

Ms. Arriaga said, "I really like the drums because of the power behind the men, but the most beautiful scene I think was the one where it opened up with the water. The water is very, very beautiful ["Nymphs of the Sea"]." Concerning the spiritual element within the show, she added, "It's touching, it's good to hear. To be honest it wasn't something I expected, and so it was nice to see that, very nice."

Ms. Padranas added, "The details - it's spectacular. And then you incorporate the details and the precision and the grace, it's just ... over the top!"

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/17476/
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