CHIAYI, Taiwan—Shen Yun’s last performance in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, drew full attendance to the Chiayi Performing Arts Center on April 4.
Tseng Che-Nan, an internationally-renowned violin instructor and former Manhattan School of Music professor stationed in South-eastern Asia, and his wife, an art teacher, watched the New York-based presentation together.
Mr. Tseng believes that Shen Yun has brought the world’s people inspiration with its reawakening of China’s 5,000-year-old cultural heritage portrayed through classical Chinese dance and ethnic dance and song.
Combining Traditional Culture with Modern Technology
“Magnificent, I admire the whole program,” said Mr. Tseng, “Shen Yun does a fantastic job in combining traditional classic culture and elements of modern technology … an inspiration for the world’s people.”
Mr. Tseng believes that art is very important for today’s people and that Shen Yun includes animated digital backdrop scenes to demonstrate the essence of China’s divinely inspired ancient culture full of deep profound meanings.
He used the last piece, the grand finale Before Disaster, the Divine is Rescuing as an example to explain how Shen Yun presents these unique ideas.
“The Buddha bounced the meteor back to the sky, which depicts Buddha rescuing mankind. With this one movement the audience can understand the deeper meanings.”
Perfectly Combines Elements of Art, Beautiful and Dynamic
“Everything is brilliant, the choreography and the music, and they coordinate with one another,” Mr. Tseng praised.
He observed the movements of the artists and how the music from the live Shen Yun orchestra perfectly matched even the slightest movement on stage. “Outstanding coordination,” Mr. Tseng said.
“To use the backdrop technology, the choreographer really did an exquisite job. There seems to be a traditional Chinese way of thinking in the choreography. The movements of the dancers match with the backdrops, the lighting, and everything comes alive.”
Mr. Tseng further explained: “When a person in the backdrop becomes a real person on the stage, the transition and the coordination of the artists was smooth and lively. The visual effect was both aesthetic and dynamic. What an amazing idea.”
Being a professional musician, Mr. Tseng highly regarded Shen Yun’s music arrangements. He talked about how the music synchronized seamlessly with the artists. “The orchestra’s performance is definitely awesome,” he said.
The Composition of the Scenes on the Backdrop is Graceful and Full of Cultural Connotation
Mr. Tseng described the projected images on the backdrop vividly presented made him feel that he was part of the pictures.
“I personally love photography. I carefully observed the pictures on the backdrop and I believe that the person who designed it paid a lot of attention to it. The angles from which the scenes were captured (composed) are the exact right angles. If they were a little bit off, the outcomes would not be as perfect.”
Temperaments of the Artists Are Upright
Mrs. Tseng was very happy to share her thoughts. “Every artist has very positive and upright temperaments. I don’t see many young people like them nowadays.”
She could not wait to see next year’s Shen Yun performance. “The program is very compact and the stories are interesting. I was drawn to every piece and always expected to see something different and surprising. I could not take my eyes off the stage. It’s a fascinating experience and I am already expecting to see them next year.”
The Use of the Color Is the Work of A Genius
Mrs. Tseng admired that the colors used conveyed a traditional sense of beauty,.“There are spots of bright dazzling colors used among the softer tones. With the artists’ soft and graceful motions, it was mesmerizing.”
Mrs. Tseng stressed that the matching of the colors are so elegant that “it’s very different from other performances. It’s almost like the colors are taken from another world and they are so bright and clear that only a genius would know how to put them together.”
“I like the performance of the erhu player,“ Mrs. Tseng said. She admitted that she was not impressed with ancient two-stringed instrument before. ”I am moved at a very deep level. The artist must have a superb art attainment to be able to do that. The spiritual level of a musician is very important because it comes from her heart.”
Mr. Tseng is an internationally-renowned violin instructor. He was a professor at Manhattan School of Music stationed in Southeast Asia for over ten years and has enlightened and taught many violin instructors and chair violinists.
Reporting by Dai De-Man, Tang Hao, and Lin Hsin-Yi
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform in seven cities in Taiwan until April 8 and then continue to top venues in Australia and New Zealand.
For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
