KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Mary Ellen Young, retired criminal attorney and judge, was very impressed with Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at the Kauffman Center in downtown Kansas City on Jan. 23. “Oh! I was very impressed.”
Shen Yun’s mission is to revitalize 5,000 years of true traditional culture inspired by the heavens. To do so, Shen Yun presents legends, myths, and other aspects of past and present history through classical Chinese, traditional folk, and ethnic dance, orchestral music, and animated stage effects.
“I really liked the movement, the dancers, and the performers’ movement—the constant moving,” said Ms. Young, who holds the honorable designation of being the first African-American to be elected circuit judge for Cass County in Missouri.
Ms. Young enjoyed the special effects and graphics of the digital-backdrops: “I really enjoyed the special effects when they fly in, but even without that, it’s just amazing how much action there is … there is a lot of action.”
“Shen Yun’s digital-backdrop team creates vividly animated settings, extending the stage and transporting the audience to a world where heaven and earth are one,” Shen Yun website states. Some performances depict the characters as they fly into the stage from the heavens and then from the stage back to the heavens.
Ms. Young elaborated: “I love the effects. I love the way they fly in, and the beating of the drums. I really enjoyed that.”
Each performance is introduced by a host and hostess in Chinese and English, which Ms. Young liked as well.
“Everything was coordinated and everybody’s timing—it was wonderful. I really enjoyed it,” she said.
“It’s almost like in every culture you have a lot of the same stories … We all speak different languages, but people are the same.”
Ms. Young particularly found this to be true for the dance Yang Zhi and His Sabre, in which the exceptional fighter with his sabre and his men are tricked.
After seeing Shen Yun, Ms. Young said she would describe Shen Yen to friends as authentic: “It is very authentic … I liked everything that I saw.”
Reporting by Xiao Ding and Cat Rooney.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 21 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
