NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.—Heavenly beings, legendary heroes and heroines, flew off the pages of ancient China’s history books and landed onstage at the New Jersey State Theater in New Brunswick, Oct. 28.
The magical auditory and visual creation of classical Chinese dance, music and song was presented by Shen Yun Performing Arts to a delighted audience who clapped through two curtain calls at the end of the Friday performance.
Based in New York, Shen Yun has at heart the revival of ancient China’s divinely-inspired cultural heritage lost to the world under some 60 years of Communist rule.
Jessica Cheung was among those who felt the energy emanating from the performers on stage. As a soprano he was drawn to comment on Shen Yun’s award-winning vocalists.
“They’re very powerful and confident, passionate about what they’re singing about. Inspiring.”
Ms. Cheung’s operatic debut came in 2005 when she played the lead role in the children’s opera Naomi’s Road with the Vancouver Opera.
“It was very interesting,” she said. “It’s my first time seeing Shen Yun—so very entertaining and educational.”
Born to Hong Kong parents, Ms. Cheung grew up in Vancouver where, encouraged by her mother, she took singing lessons that would allow her to pursue her dream to sing opera, she told The Epoch Times in an April interview this year.
Ms. Cheung enjoyed the historical aspects and the many art forms and stories depicted by the world-renowned Shen Yun dance and music company.
“I feel like the dancers really expressed the story behind it,” she said. “It was beautiful. A lot of the dances made me want to move too. I could feel that the dancers felt it in their bodies. It was very expressive.”
Ms. Cheung’s earlier interview, by The Epoch Times, was after she captured the lead role as Mabel in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance with the Toronto Operetta Theater. She graduated with an Artist’s Diploma in Vocal Studies from Toronto’s Glenn Gould School in 2005 and has played a number of theatrical roles since.
Reporting by Ellen Lin and Raiatea Tahana-Reese.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
