DALLAS, Texas—David Mathanson, a senior director with a health care company, and Yoga trainer Kathy Dowling were the first of their family to experience the beauty of
Shen Yun Performing Arts at Winspear Opera House on April 17.
“Many people want us to tell them about [
Shen Yun] … family and friends and they said ‘oh you go first and you tell us,’… so we’re going to tell them all that they should see it, it’s beautiful!” said Ms. Dowling.
“The beauty, the athleticism, the silliness, the serious, the emotion, in all the different acts it all just goes together and it all works very beautifully together,” she said.
Based in New York, Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Along with folk dances and solo performances, the production depicts
story-based pieces that tell tales from ancient times to the modern-day.
Shen Yun also features a patented, animated backdrop that allows for seamless collaboration between the dancers on stage and the
background scenery.
“The most amazing part to me was the interaction between what was happening on stage and what was happening behind on the screen, I mean that’s just absolutely unbelievable I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Mr. Mathanson.
“It was fun and was also very multi-layered, it gave you an insight into the spiritual beliefs of Chinese history,’ he said. “It is remarkable to get an experience dealing with history, culture, customs, traditions that probably most people don’t realize about a country that’s been around thousands of years before our own, so it’s very enjoyable, it’s very beautiful, and it’s quite amazing.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts aims to revive China’s 5,000-year-old traditional culture. The company’s website says its performance this year demonstrates “China before communism.”
“The performers want to share what’s happening [in China] … they just want to share their history, the message is: ‘we come from a beautiful and very ancient history and they want to
share that … to share this history with us, so I’m glad they do,” said Ms. Dowling.
Reporting by Yawn Hung and Jennifer Schneider.
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