ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company concluded the last of four performances at the Progress Energy Center’s Mahaffey Theater on April 28—all to a full house.
Ronald Iverson, past president-CEO at Iverson International Inc. and editor of a new translation of the Chinese classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, found Shen Yun inspiring.
“It’s fantastic—I love the dancing, and I love the colors, and the music is wonderful,” he said of the April 26 performance.
Mr. Iverson taught business strategy to international MBA students at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. He is also a co-founder of a foundation for the deaf and blind. He said that he would introduce Shen Yun to his friends and students.
Chinese Cultural Heritage
Darlene Kole, president-CEO of the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce, attended the April 28 performance along with Florence Eaton. “The costumes are beautiful. The dancing is awesome,” Ms. Kole said. “The music is wonderful. The orchestra is outstanding. I want … to recognize the orchestra as much as the dancers.”
Ms. Kole also recognized “the historical nature of the heritage, of the tradition, of the culture.” “It’s very well-depicted in the stories,” she said, referring to the story-based dances, which draw on stories and legends from China’s 5,000 years of history as well as contemporary China.
“In less than ten minutes each, Shen Yun dances recount ancient myths, bygone heroes, or celestial paradises. Whether set in the past or in contemporary China, every dance embodies traditional Chinese values. Ideals of loyalty, filial piety, and veneration for the divine are cherished and celebrated,” Shen Yun’s website states.
“I‘ll put it on Facebook, and I’ll tell all my friends,” Ms. Kole said. “It will probably be in my newsletter.”
The dancers in the audience were thrilled with the premier Chinese dance company’s performance. Kelle Chancellor, co-owner of the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Brandon, Fla., brought some of her dance students to see the April 28 performance.
“We thought it was magnificent. It was wonderful,” Ms. Chancellor said. “The discipline and all the creativity behind each movement was really amazing.”
‘A True Art’
Delores Tancredo, Joyce Comeloas, and Ms. Juarez attended the April 27 performance together. Ms. Comeloas, a dancer, said: “We loved it. I’ve never seen a show with classical Chinese dance. I love … the challenging flips and tumbles.”
She said that when she took the picture of the Shen Yun dancer from the newspaper ad to her dance class, all the students wanted to see the show. “Some couldn’t go, and they were very disappointed,” she said. “Next year they'll all come.”
“We'll make sure,” Ms. Tancredo, also a dancer, said. “This is a true art.” “It was very relaxing. It was very meditative.”
Shen Yun is performing at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Fla. It will complete the Florida performances of its 2012–2013 world tour with one performance in Melbourne’s King Center for the Performing Arts on May 2.
Reporting by Vivian Shao, Teresa Liu, Elaine Zhang, and Louise Rothman
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
