Shen Yun Performing Arts arrived in Leipzig, Germany on March 8, ready to put on four classical Chinese dance performances at the Leipzig Opera House. Leipzig is a city with rich traditional culture and history. It’s also famous because German composers Bach, Wagner, and Mendelssohn lived and created some of their legendary works there.
Manuela Bernhardt, a singer and a music school director, said it was “quite wonderful. We are still very enchanted and still very inspired from the many beautiful impressions, from the bright colors, to the great music and the really excellent performances of the artists.”
“We were really fascinated by this event. It’s somewhere between fabulous and fascinating,” said Günter Ludwig Bernhardt, the president of the Society for the Promotion of Music in Leipzig.
Cathleen Borchers, an IT specialist, said: “It’s a completely different kind of ballet or dance from what I’ve seen before. So, it’s really impressive.
Shen Yun features dance stories accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. But it’s no ordinary orchestra, it features harmony between traditional Eastern and Western instruments.
“They are classical singers. We love that too. The voices are great, really great. They sang cleanly and were very emotionally touching. We liked that a lot,” said Mrs. Bernhardt.
Maximilian Bernhardt said, “I’m actually not the biggest fan of singing in general, but I have to admit that the tenor really did a great job.”
Günter Ludwig Bernhardt said: “I am also a singer by profession and a music school director. Both singers, the man and woman, fascinated us. Exceptional voices.”
Shen Yun tours the globe with a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and its 5,000-year history. For thousands of years, ancient people in China believed in cultivating virtues and upholding morality.
Maximilian Bernhardt said: “I thought it was great. I definitely like the modern influence. And at the same time, I got an impression of the broad spectrum of 5,000 years of Chinese history and even learned a little something.”
“Standing up for each other, being there for each other, reliability, loyalty,” said Tommy Borchers, a digitization specialist at Telekom MMS. “It’s really good that [these values] are shown and that they are remembered and maintained, that you live for them, so that the tradition doesn’t die out.
“I see how you can bring multiple civilizations together with the influences of compassion, forbearance, truthfulness. They are nice mottos to live by, definitely,” said Maximilian Bernhardt.
Manuela Bernhardt said: “there’s something so fairytale-like about it. That good will prevail, and that evil must and can be defeated. And that you should never give up hope.”
Mr. Borchers commented: “I would definitely recommend that everyone watch the show. This kind of dance is indeed something you can’t see every day and you can’t compare it with anything else. And so, it’s worth coming here for that alone.”
Shen Yun tickets sold out at the Leipzig Opera House box office two months in advance.
NTD News, Leipzig, Germany
