Shen Yun Performing Arts is an insightful show for people of all ages, whether one is familiar with traditional Chinese culture or not. The classical Chinese dance show completed its performances in Claremont, California on April 2. It drew audiences from different states and industries, who all found something that moved them in the performance.
“They’ve obviously been training a long time to achieve the height in the jumps, and they were super coordinated, so you felt grace from the entire group as a whole and saw also the beauty of each woman’s hands and feet. It’s elegant, very beautiful,” said Sarah Dougherty, an artist.
“I also would love to paint backdrops for some dance like this, it’s really inspiring to see the temples and the forests and the mountains.”
“They are professional. You can tell they put a lot of time and practice into what they do, and they just are absolutely unbelievable. How they can choreograph and move the way they do. It’s like one, there’s a dozen and they move like one person,” said retired police officer Patrick Reilly.
“Absolutely spectacular! It’s beautiful colors, just all of the acrobatics are just moving. Very, very moving,” said Robert Shepherd, a company manager.
“It was very engaging, the dancing was beautiful. The music was lovely. Hen you yi si (Chinese for ‘very interesting’). It was very entertaining,” said Robert Freeman, a real estate broker.
Among the attendees was the Sitar family, who traveled a long way to see the show.
“We came all the way from Hawaii with my family, to see the show. It was wonderful. The synchronicity of the performers, the way their costumes flowed, they were spot on,” said John Sitar, a firefighter.
“The costumes I thought were beautiful. I loved all the dressed and how they just moved with the dancers. The costumes really seem to be part of the performance. I really enjoyed that,” said John’s daughter Dora who works as a financial analyst.
Both father and daughter enjoyed the solo performance by the female soprano.
“She was unbelievable, she was unreal. I can’t believe that those sounds can come out of the human body. It was just really, really beautiful. I was really moved by her performance,” said Dora.
“With the music, it’s able to draw you in and captivate you,” said John.
“It was very compelling. We are ready to come back for next year. That’s my experience. We want more. We want more. We want more.”
Shen Yun will be performing next in Portland, Oregon.