MANCHESTER, UK—Christine Tacon, CBE, was so intrigued by all the new things she was learning about Chinese culture through Shen Yun Performing Arts that during intermission, she headed toward the orchestra pit to see if she could get a glimpse of the ancient Chinese instruments that Shen Yun’s orchestra embeds into its ensemble.
“You could hear some very different instruments to what you'd expect,” said Ms. Tacon, director of Co-op, the largest consumer co-operative in the UK. She attended Shen Yun for the first time on Jan. 18, with William Davies at the Palace Theatre. Nestled among familiar strings like the violin, viola, and cello are the two-string erhu and Chinese lute pipa, instruments that are thousands of years old.
“I had no idea what to expect, and I love the variety, and I really like the fact that they’re telling us a bit of the background between each one,” Ms. Tacon added.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, with a mission to show the world China before communism.
Through music and dance, the artists seek to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. Every year, the group produces a new program for its global tour, with classical Chinese dances, ethnic and folk dances featuring China’s 50-some ethnic minorities, story-based dances that bring to life episodes of Chinese history and legend, solo musical performances, and more.
Ms. Tacon said she admired how skillful the artists were, as each vignette was different from the other.
While happy to learn about the traditional Chinese culture, which Ms. Tacon discovered was a divinely inspired culture through the performance, she said it was tragic to think that Shen Yun could be in the minority compared to the communist ruled mainland China.
“And I’m glad it’s protected,” she said, encouraged to learn that Shen Yun has grown to have eight companies touring the world each season simultaneously. “Keep going. Keep, keep going.”
Reporting by Mary Man and Catherine Yang.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
