Shen Yun Performing Arts visited Israel for the first time this year from March 25 to 27, with four sold-out performances in Tel Aviv.
Shlomo Eshed, the president of Israel Precious Stones and Diamonds Exchange, saw Shen Yun at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center’s Opera House, and said it was “something extraordinary.”
“I think it is something wonderful and impressive, bringing something like this to Israel,” said Mr. Eshed. “It was something extraordinary, me and my wife were sitting here thrilled.”
According to the Shen Yun website, “Shen Yun” translates to “the beauty of divine beings dancing.” Its hallmark is classical Chinese dance, which grounds itself in five millennia of history, with origins in imperial palace dances.
“The airy costumes, the dancers—they are not dancing, it’s like they are flying on stage, like angels, sometimes I had a feeling that I see butterflies that are flying on stage,” said Miri Aloni, a singer and actress.
“The technique of the backdrop with the photography, this amazing technique I was not familiar with—when the dancer seems to go into the backdrop, it was beautiful.”
The dances are accompanied by a live orchestra that blends the classical music traditions of the East and the West. It features ancient Chinese instruments, such as the pipa, a four-stringed lute, with a full Western orchestra.
“I am so happy that I came to see it and that I have not missed it and I will come next year for sure because it was just a divine performance. It was a dream. Amazing, just amazing,” said Ms. Aloni.
Shen Yun, a New York-based company, aims to revive China’s divinely inspired culture, focusing on elements such as benevolence, justice, propriety, wisdom, and respect for the heavens.
Giora Feidman, a clarinetist, felt the performance conveyed spiritual truth, awakened his inner divinity, and purified his soul.
“It’s not that it’s hard for me to express it in words, there are just no words to express it,” he said.” I am not the same person that went into the performance, I am not the same person now coming out.
