HOUSTON—Mr. Reeve Smith, a retired digital artist, was among the enthusiastic audience at Jones Hall on Dec. 26 where Shen Yun Performing Arts played to a full house at its second-to-last show in Houston.
Mr. Smith, who noted that he loved classical music, described the New York-based company’s revival of 5,000 years of Chinese culture as a performance of “grandeur.”
“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “I don’t know if I can come up with a better word than fantastic.”
Mr. Smith said he'd had an interest in Asian art for a long time and was very impressed by the artistry of the performance combined with Shen Yun’s digital backdrops.
The state-of-the-art backdrops, often animated to enhance a dance or song, are a hallmark of the premier classical Chinese dance company. They are designed to coordinate with the costumes, choreography, storyline, music, and even the lighting of every piece.
“It’s an extremely impressive and unique innovation that I wasn’t expecting, but I love it,” he said.
“The synchronization is wonderful,” agreed Mrs. Karen Harman, who attended the show with her husband as guests of Mr. Reeve.
“I was just saying, what a wonderful present. Love it,” she said.
Shen Yun’s animated backdrop depicts vibrant scenes that range from the lush mountains of Taiwan to a battlefield during the Northern Song dynasty, where lady Mu Guiying led her troops to victory after her husband, the general, fell in battle.
Also in the audience were Mrs. Sherry Bratsman and her husband. They received tickets as a gift from her son.
Before moving to Texas, Mrs. Bratsman had worked with dancers in the International Folk Dance Festival competition in Idaho.
“Oh, I think they’re amazing,” Mrs. Bratsman praised the Shen Yun dancers.
The girls “float like clouds, they’re so graceful. They just float across the stage, it’s beautiful. And the [male dancers] were more—they were warriors.”
Mrs. Bratsman said the production was beautiful, from the scenery of the backdrops to the costumes and voices, adding that the show was also more than just a visual treat.
“I like the way it’s showing the history of China,” Mrs. Bratsman said. “It’s showing the beauty of China plus the things that have happened throughout the years.”
That sentiment was shared by Mark and Anastasia Barnett, who attended the performance and were intrigued by the culture.
Mr. Barnett said what impressed him the most was the “combining of the dance and music with the political history and the spiritualism of the political history.”
“I find it makes the music and dance very meaningful, it kind of touches your inner being,” Mr. Barnett said.
“It’s very harmonious, very aesthetic,” Mrs. Barnett said.
Reporting by Yunxia and Catherine Yang
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform at Jones Hall, Houston, from Wednesday, Dec. 21 through Tuesday, Dec. 27.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
