HAMILTON—Pam MacDonald, a costume designer of 40 years, said she was thrilled by the amount of work and skill that went into the costumes of Shen Yun Performing Arts after taking in the show at Hamilton Place Theatre on Monday.
“They were amazing. I would have loved to have touched them and I wanted to see how they were put together. Just on stage, they were phenomenal,” said Ms. MacDonald.
“Most of them were in silks and so whoever has designed them—I’m sure it’s because of their experience—has allowed the air to lift them so that they really show beautifully.”
She said that kind of effect depends on combination of fabrics, cut, and fit. In Shen Yun’s case, these all came together for an impressive effect.
“I was thrilled. I was sitting quite close to the stage and so I could see all the little extras that were put into it, so it made it really special,” she said.
Ms. MacDonald has been doing stage and dancing costumes for 40 years for local theatres and players’ guilds. She also works one on one with some higher profile dancers.
She said the number of dancers on the stage and costume changes represent the amount of money the New York-based performing arts company was willing to put into the costuming.
“There was a very large cast there so there was a lot of costumes and many changes. So I thought it was amazing. There were things I have never done in costumes before.
“For example, they called it sleeve dance, where they used the weight of the silk to drop it back into their hands so they could throw it back up again. They carried poles in their hands when they were dancing at the end with the long sleeves. And again, it just showed it off—it was larger than life.”
According to its website, Shen Yun’s costume artists collect many designs of traditional attire, from imperial dragon robes to the everyday clothing of the common people. Hundreds of new pieces are created each season.
Shen Yun presents classical Chinese dance along with ethnic dances from China’s diverse ethnicities, as well as folk dances from the country’s dominant Han ethnicity. The company aims to revive traditional Chinese culture and the values and virtues on which that culture was based, such as benevolence, courage, sincerity, and wisdom.
Ms. MacDonald said the dancing was unlike anything she had ever seen before.
“It was amazing. Different kinds of footwork than I’ve ever seen, so I kept thinking I want to learn how to move like that.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three equally large companies touring the world simultaneously. International Company will stage one more performance in Hamilton on Tuesday before carrying on to Montreal for a five-show run from Jan. 5 to 8.
