COSTA MESA, Calif.—Celebrities and VIPs were captivated by Shen Yun Performing Art New York Company’s classical Chinese dance and music spectacular who attended the Sergestrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on May 7.
An excited Miss America International 2007, Tram Ho, was counted amongst the elite audience.
“I’ve been here three times. I really enjoy the show,“ Ms. Ho enthused. ”I feel [the performance]is very exciting in every sense. The dancers, they work very hard to do a very good job. When I follow their steps, I can see the energy they put in.
“Every step, and each dance, they show the culture and the civilization of China. I love their dancing just because they work so hard and really look like a unit … .”
The American beauty queen was truly enamored by the depth of the culture so vividly portrayed, reminding her of stories she knew from her own Vietnamese culture, which has close ancestral ties to Chinese.
“I know the Chinese history and Vietnamese history are connected … A long time ago in history, the Chinese occupied Vietnam country for a long time. That’s why our culture is very similar. That’s why, when I saw the show like this … I enjoyed it.”
Ms. Ho was particularly impressed by the male characters’ display of courage and strength choreographed to move in synchronized patterns, like once dance where loyalty, discipline precision were shown.
“The men look like leaders, and they have the soldiers. They have to be in order... They look exactly like my culture. The soldier always has to listen to the leaders, of course,” she explained.
“You can see that they are one unit. They can be strong, and if your base is strong, that makes the people strong. If your base is not strong, it will fall out, and from the show I can feel that.”
Reporting by Jenny Liu and Albert Roman.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
