LONDON—Classical Chinese dance and music company Shen Yun Performing Arts is halfway through its London tour. Theatergoers and lovers of the arts appreciated the cultural depth of Shen Yun’s performance.
British member of Parliament Marie Rimmer attended Shen Yun in London on April 18.
“Oh, gosh, it’s just … it’s got the wow factor. It’s just unbelievable,” said Rimmer. Most of all, she found the performance to be telling a story of the real China.
She said she was especially moved by the programs about the persecution of spirituality in China. “Those stories are told so beautifully, [it] really does tell the story of China. And it’s just so sad that these artists can’t display the wonderful work out for us all to hear. It’s just wonderful the way the story is done, and it really just brings it home. I didn’t know much about China. I’ve learned so much this evening. It’s just wonderful the way they’ve done it.”
“And I just feel so sad for the Chinese people that they’ve lost so much. And I just pray. Just pray, that someday they get the peace that they deserve and they’re allowed to practice their faith, and live the lives where they want to do,” she added.
Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance. With the support of Shen Yun’s live orchestra, the production is able to present stories from Chinese history, literature, and mythology.
Sunil Chopra, mayor of the London Borough of Southwark, appreciated the artistry of the performance.
“I’m very impressed, very talented stars you got here,” said Mayor Chopra.
Although Shen Yun is promoting Chinese culture, its truthful depiction of present-day China makes it difficult for the company to perform in China.
“I personally think there’s nothing wrong [with] promoting your old tradition, culture. And there’s no message, which destroyed the image of China. I don’t understand why, it’s such a good PR exercise rather to promote China and to show Chinese cultures, show Chinese history,” he added.
Maral Shamloo, managing director at an investment company, said the classical Chinese dance pieces were her favorite part.
“The fact that it combines the physicality and the art, It’s … I find it very appealing,” she said. “What was really interesting about Shen Yun, compared to, let’s say, ballet, is the coordination and doing the moves together, and being very much on time was very central. And that I found very interesting.”
She said she appreciated that Shen Yun promotes traditional values, such as compassion, responsibility, and courage.
“It is central to, remind people as we go through the modern world and perhaps societies become a little bit more disintegrated and individuality becomes more important, that these values are central to humanity. They are part of who we are.”
Marion King, an executive in the financial industry, said she appreciated Chinese culture.
“I was surprised that it’s an American production, not a Chinese production and having spent a lot of time in China myself, it was fantastic,” she said. “It brings the similarities between European dance and Chinese dance which I thought was fantastic.”
King noted the focus on goodness. “I think it’s really appropriate in the modern world where we have so much friction and conflict that to project the goodness of an individual and people is great.”
NTD News, London, UK
