VIENNA—The 2011 Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company’s premiere at the Wiener Stadthalle once again presented 5,000 years of ancient Chinese culture in a new light.
Attending the VIP reception following the performance on May 1, were individuals from the financial cultural sector business leaders and others.
They wanted to personally show their appreciation and congratulate the performers for their artistic skills.
Ruth Strutzmann, Austria’s 1971 dance master said, “The Shen Yun is harmony; simply harmony. And somehow this affects the viewers—at least it affected me. One cannot help but sense a feeling of peace and relaxation, one feels almost weightless.”
Given her background in the dance field, she watched the Shen Yun dancers with the eye of an expert.
“I cannot help but express my absolute delight with this classical dance tradition and the synchronization of the scenes is an important element in the performance.
Classical Chinese dance is mostly new to the West and has no comparison as its dance form is thousands of years old, according to the company’s website.
“Austria’s ballet ought to look at this performance as an example to emulate,” Ms. Strutzmann said.
“The dancer’s movements are exact. Simply impressive! Grand! To do the splits while standing is unbelievable. It seems a mixture of dance and acrobatic.
“Now I know where the Paris Revue Theater got their idea for the fan dance, from the Shen Yun ... Plum Blossom scene.”
Yunchia Chen choreographed that dance, and Susan Liu composed the music. Chinese people are fond of the allegory in plum blossoms. Despite them being small flowers and delicate, they show courage in the face of adversity, even in snow.
Another dance scene, Our Story was unique and most impressive to Ms. Ruth Strutzmann, because it was portraying the current situation in China.
The scene tells the story of a teacher and her pupils who not only teaches them the art of writing but also how to handle life. Chinese state security forces arrest her because of her writing the word ‘Truth, Compassion and Tolerance’ on the blackboard.
Ms. Strutzmann praised the mix of Eastern and Western music, and was quite touched by the music emanating from the erhu [an ancient Chinese two-stringed instrument].
She couldn’t help saying, “While watching the show, one feels almost as light as the dancers.”
“I will definitely recommend the show to others and have already taken several fliers, to distribute them where I live.”
Reporting by Alexander Hamrle, Veronika Mueller and Christina Riveland.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts will continue to Bratislava, Slovakia for two shows on May 7-8. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Attending the VIP reception following the performance on May 1, were individuals from the financial cultural sector business leaders and others.
They wanted to personally show their appreciation and congratulate the performers for their artistic skills.
Ruth Strutzmann, Austria’s 1971 dance master said, “The Shen Yun is harmony; simply harmony. And somehow this affects the viewers—at least it affected me. One cannot help but sense a feeling of peace and relaxation, one feels almost weightless.”
Given her background in the dance field, she watched the Shen Yun dancers with the eye of an expert.
“I cannot help but express my absolute delight with this classical dance tradition and the synchronization of the scenes is an important element in the performance.
Classical Chinese dance is mostly new to the West and has no comparison as its dance form is thousands of years old, according to the company’s website.
“Austria’s ballet ought to look at this performance as an example to emulate,” Ms. Strutzmann said.
“The dancer’s movements are exact. Simply impressive! Grand! To do the splits while standing is unbelievable. It seems a mixture of dance and acrobatic.
“Now I know where the Paris Revue Theater got their idea for the fan dance, from the Shen Yun ... Plum Blossom scene.”
Yunchia Chen choreographed that dance, and Susan Liu composed the music. Chinese people are fond of the allegory in plum blossoms. Despite them being small flowers and delicate, they show courage in the face of adversity, even in snow.
Another dance scene, Our Story was unique and most impressive to Ms. Ruth Strutzmann, because it was portraying the current situation in China.
The scene tells the story of a teacher and her pupils who not only teaches them the art of writing but also how to handle life. Chinese state security forces arrest her because of her writing the word ‘Truth, Compassion and Tolerance’ on the blackboard.
Ms. Strutzmann praised the mix of Eastern and Western music, and was quite touched by the music emanating from the erhu [an ancient Chinese two-stringed instrument].
She couldn’t help saying, “While watching the show, one feels almost as light as the dancers.”
“I will definitely recommend the show to others and have already taken several fliers, to distribute them where I live.”
Reporting by Alexander Hamrle, Veronika Mueller and Christina Riveland.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts will continue to Bratislava, Slovakia for two shows on May 7-8. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
