HOUSTON—Since the opening of Jones Hall in 1966, millions of patrons have enjoyed performances at the venue. On Thursday evening, Dec. 22, audience members crowded in to see Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company’s second performance in Houston.
Jay Tavarez, CEO of a manufacturing business that won a place at the top of the Houston Business Journal’s Best Places to Work list, brought his family to the event and was impressed with Shen Yun’s high level performance.
“Very well done, very professional; the scenery, the backdrops, the costuming, the dancing itself, music, everything is very professional, very enjoyable,” he said.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance and music company. The only company that is devoted to preserving classical Chinese dance in its purest form.
Classical Chinese dance was passed down throughout the many dynasties of China’s 5,000-year-old culture, but was almost completely destroyed during the Cultural revolution and over 60 years of communist rule in China.
Now Shen Yun aims to revive traditional Chinese culture, and preserve its precious art forms, through this ancient story-based dance.
Mrs. Tavarez said she learned about Shen Yun through a newspaper review, and thought it would be the perfect way to spend time with her visiting son during the holiday season.
“We thought it would be a really neat place to come and enjoy this because my son and his girlfriend are both here for the holidays. She studied ballet so we thought this would be interesting [to see]. We’re loving it, they’re enjoying it too,” she said.
Their son, Jason Tavarez, recently graduated from law school and works as a tutor and Track and Field coach at a California University.
He majored in history during his undergraduate degree, and really appreciated the ancient legends depicted in Shen Yun’s dances, which are brought to life with vivid digital backdrops and a full orchestra that combines Chinese and Western classical instruments.
“I’m really impressed, I enjoyed it. I like the history behind all the stories—the pageantry is really impressive to me,” he said.
Jason’s girlfriend, Volney Youngstrom, who studied ballet for many years, was impressed with the precision and synchronization in Shen Yun’s trademark group dances—which can feature more than 20 dancers at one time.
“It’s great, the dancers are all very together. They work together well and the costumes are absolutely beautiful,” she said.
Reporting by Kevin Peng and Justina Wheale.
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform at Houston’s Jones Hall through Tuesday, Dec. 27. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
