SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Former Producer Says Shen Yun Is ‘A Magical Experience’

Mar 13, 2023

VENICE, Fla.—Jackie Rogers, founder of the House of Hilt, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Venice Performing Arts Center on March 12. “I absolutely love the show. It’s magical. It’s something that I think everyone can appreciate Chinese culture by seeing the show. It’s absolutely wonderful,” she said.

Her company manufactures skincare products that are part of the beauty industry. Rogers said she could experience the inner beauty behind the dancers’ physical movements. “What you see through the performers, their energy, their spirit, you can tell they’re moving the audience with how they interact, how they dance, how they move: It’s technical beauty. It’s absolute perfection.”

Rogers loved the costumes and wanted to know more. “The colors are magical. It is like candy for your eyes. It’s absolutely beautiful. Who does the costumes? Are they professional? Costume designers?”

She noticed how the costumes help to tell the stories. “I think they’re beautiful. They’re bold. They’re exciting. They’re visually stimulating. They help tell the story, [like] the valiant soldier dressed in white and the purple is the Majesty. It’s beautiful.”

“It’s amazing. I’m a former producer, a show producer. This is a magnificent feat of bringing in the projection and telling the story of Chinese culture [that has a history of] thousands of years. It’s just magical the way the story is told through color and costume.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists and quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture.

Rogers said:

“The value of the production is incredible. The ability to tell the story without using words and just using your body language and facial expression. And, like I said, the color: it’s magical. It’s a magical experience. Everybody should see the show.”

With her professional experience, Rogers noticed the dancers interacted with the backdrops. “Backdrops are incredible. The little technique where they go up to the screen, and they dive down. [How] they perform and they come up on the screen is such an amazing feat. The added element of technology with the 1,000-year-old dance is a wonderful performance for this day and age. I think it keeps the audience engaged. And it’s a surprise.”

The live orchestra was also a pleasant surprise: “The orchestra is just phenomenal. You know, I didn’t know if this was going to be a pre-recorded soundtrack. And when the conductor stood up, I was like ‘Bravo!’ This is wonderful because it really is a part of the show. It’s an important part of the show. A critical element. And all of the different music coming together to support the performers is spot on, and is really beautiful.”

She said how impressed she was by Shen Yun’s original music composed by the Director of Shen Yun: “I’m impressed. I’m impressed.”

Rogers has been aware of Chinese culture and saw it on stage. “I saw a beautiful culture. I follow Chinese culture. I collect a lot of artifacts. I just love everything that China represents, or had represented before communism took over. It’s very spiritual and steeped in all the right things,” she said.

She does not approve of the persecution by the communist regime as told in one of the stories. “It was very traumatic to see what would be happening in present-day China. So it’s just amazing that the show goes there. I think that’s very important to show everybody here in America, you know, what’s really happening,” Rogers said.

More than that, Rogers said she connected with the spiritual aspect of Shen Yun. “Very much so. Very much so. I was just at a luncheon with my girlfriends, and they teach Tai Chi, talking about energy flow and all of that. So I’m a firm believer in all of that. Absolutely. So I’m glad it’s part of the show.”

“I had no idea coming in what this was going to be about, and I’m so thankful I came and I will come every time you’re in town.”

Rogers had positive words for Shen Yun’s director. “I would say this is a magical feast for the eyes. Thank you. Keep going. We want to see them, you know, the next generation. [This] is truly a gift.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma and Yvonne Marcotte.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.