SAN FRANCISCO—Film editor Ernie Calderon, seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House on Saturday, Jan. 7, called the performance a “wonderful story.”
“Aesthetically, it is very beautiful and very visual,” he said. “I was surprised by the animation, and I liked how it correlated the dancing with the animation to provide a story.”
Shen Yun’s main medium of expression is classical Chinese dance, but it also includes a motion-filled, visual backdrop with which the dancers interact, according to the company’s website.
“I am thrown back a little bit by the beauty of the colors and the dancing and the choreography,” Mr. Calderon said, noting the dancers’ coordination with the projections.
“I know there is a lot of history to this,” he continued. “[It] make me wonder how long it has taken to perfect the dance [with] the traditions of the Chinese. And it is just nice to see a wonderful story.”
The mission of Shen Yun, which was established in New York in 2006, is to revive the age-old culture of China, which has mostly been destroyed under 60 years of communist rule, the company’s website states.
Mr. Calderon brought Camela Davis, a yoga instructor, to the performance.
“It is exciting to see them running across the floor with so much ease,” she said. “I love the costumes the color” with the “the lights” onstage.”
At the heart of each performance is classical Chinese with a history stretching back thousands of years, which allows the dancers to convey the inner meanings of China’s culture, according to the Shen Yun website. This form requires a great deal of practice and mastery as it is considered one of the most comprehensive types of dance in the world.
“It is very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing because of the color,” Ms. David said. “I love the lotus dance with the lotus leaves, because I know the lotus is a symbol for the spiritual journey and enlightenment and the journey we go through toward enlightenment,” she continued, referring to the piece Lotus Leaves in which dancers use fans to imitate the movement of flowers in the wind, according to the program.
Overall, Shen Yun “is an opportunity to experience classical Chinese Dance ... and to get sense of the culture pre communism,” Ms. Davis said, adding that one can see the “traditional culture outside the influence of that.”
Reporting by Gary Wang and Jack Phillips.
Shen Yun’s New York Company will continue on to Costa Mesa and then Los Angeles, starting January 11. Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WTKCEA4tE[/video]
