SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Conductor Deeply Moved by Shen Yun

Oct 06, 2021

PORTLAND, Maine—A conductor was left in awe after watching Shen Yun Performing Arts at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium last weekend.

“This was fantastic,” conductor David Brandes said. “I was so impressed with the music, the dance, the technology, the scenery. [And] it was very, very, deeply moving.”

Brandes is a retired professor of music from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. He saw New York-based Shen Yun with his family on Oct. 2.

Having conducted many performances before, he said he was deeply impressed by the artistic skills of the performers.

“I was especially impressed with the music, as a musician,“ he said. ”The coordination of the music with the interpretation of the dance was exquisite and very, very articulate. I was so impressed with it. I thought it was an outstanding performance.”

His wife Kathleen said the music was healing.

“When the host said that in ancient China, music was used to heal; I think this is true even today—people can feel that when you’re in a place where beautiful music is playing,” she said.

Brandes also said he admired the spiritual and cultural connotations that came through the performance.

“I got a sense that this was a very deep spiritual expression by the dancers and the people who are doing it. They clearly love what they’re doing. They clearly believe in what they’re doing. So the spirituality of it comes through in a very, very strong way,” he said.

Ancient Chinese culture placed great emphasis on the divine. Shen Yun aims to keep this tradition alive today, portraying values such as faith, benevolence, and respect for the divine.

The history came through beautifully in the performance, and here you are really watching something without words. But you know, the art speaks to us in ways that words can't speak to us.

— David Brandes

Brandes added: “This is a very high level of performance. And so I have another appreciation for that as well, a greater appreciation. But particularly the interpretation of the Chinese culture, the history came through beautifully in the performance, and here you are really watching something without words. But you know, the art speaks to us in ways that words can’t speak to us.”

“I think these kinds of things are what cause us to relate to our fellow human beings,” added Kathleen. “And the goodness that’s within all human beings really comes through in something like this. It was incredibly moving, beautifully done, and something that we'll all keep with us for a very long time. It was really, really wonderful.”

Reporting by NTD Television

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.