SAN FRANCISCO—Local radio host Sam van Zandt was impressed by Shen Yun Performing Arts when he saw the company perform to a sold out audience at the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco March 23.
“It’s spectacular, amazing … everybody is so athletic. The dance moves are so unique,” said Mr. van Zandt, who is a radio host at station KBAY in San Jose.
“I am impressed that they can do so much in unison, and tell such a story without speaking,” Mr. van Zandt said.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 with the mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese culture through classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk and dance, music, and song.
Mr. van Zandt said that was touched by the several songs in the performance. Shen Yun’s singers sing bel canto opera in Chinese while the lyrics scroll across the background screen in English and Chinese.
“It was beautiful … you hear the song and it moves you,” Mr. van Zandt said.
He attended the performance with Carol McKinney who is the executive director at the NGO Harmony Home Associated.
Ms. McKinney was also impressed with the performance by Shen Yun.
“I am completely impressed with the athleticism of these dancers,” she said. “It’s been a great pleasure to be here, watching this performance.”
“I am really very impressed with the way it all blends together with the music, with the storyline, with the dancing.”
Part of Shen Yun’s performances are mini-drama pieces that tell stories and legends from China’s history and highlight contemporary injustices.
Both Mr. van Zandt and Ms. McKinney said they were impressed by the piece An Unexpected Encounter which shows the persecution of practitioners of the spiritual discipline Falun Dafa, in present-day China.
“That story was eye-opening to me,” Mr. van Zandt said.
Ms. McKinney liked the positive message in the story when a father and daughter who are mistakenly persecuted receive divine aid.
Reporting by SOH Radio Network and Jasper Fakkert
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company is performing in San Francisco, at the SHN Orpheum Theatre, March 20-24. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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