SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘It’s Grandiose, There Is a Magic’: Shen Yun Opens in Lyon, France

Feb 04, 2023

LYON, France—Shen Yun Performing Arts opened in Lyon, France Saturday night at L'Amphithéâtre 3000, welcomed by audience members new and returning alike.

Anthony Fabvre, an engineer, had seen Shen Yun before, and even this time felt reluctant to leave the theater after the experience, wanting to linger and continue to bask in the energy.

“Like when you’ve had a surprisingly good time and you don’t want to leave it actually,” he said.

What made New York-based Shen Yun so captivating was a number of things.

“It’s grandiose, it’s grandiose, there is a magic, there are fantastic musicians too, and the sound, the light, the video, there is all a work here. Even, we feel, that behind the scenes, there is also work,” he said.

The sights and sounds come together fluidly, and washed over Mr. Fabvre like “a flowing river.”

“There are torrents, there are quiet moments, and I think it’s great,” he said. “It’s something that I recommend to my friends, to people who want to discover the Chinese culture rather than the current one. And I think that summarizing 5,000 years in two hours, I think it’s pretty well done.”

“It is a return to 5,000 years in the past, and we discover a civilization through a cultural wealth, through artists who are excellent,” he said.

It was an emotional experience for Mr. Fabvre, who said the opening showed a scene of the universe, and brought out a natural longing in people to discover the mystery that lies within both man and the universe. He felt the performance moved him so deeply because it put him “in phase” with the universe. Shen Yun did this through beauty, he added.

The divine side, I would say, it is an overlay for me of the beauty of the world.

— Anthony Fabvre

“The divine side, I would say, it is an overlay for me of the beauty of the world,” he said. “It is a way of saying: the world is there, and the divinity, finally, it is there.”

“It is present, it is the water, it is the air, it is the earth, it is the fire. And I think that through a divinity, we try to show all that,” he said.

The name Shen Yun lives up to this description in a way, as it translates into “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”

When Mr. Fabvre saw Shen Yun previously, he was interested in Falun Gong, which was mentioned in the performance, and looked into it.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual meditation practice that many Shen Yun artists practice, cultivating their character in order to produce spiritually uplifting art. The practice teaches the three principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, and Mr. Fabvre found it very good.

“This state of mind of goodness, patience, and kindness, authenticity. I find that it brings something on earth,” he said.

“Through these choreographies, I really found senses that we lose in our daily life, with life, work, time passing. And I find that these are virtues that are lost.”

“Thanks to this kind of show, thanks to people who also transmit this richness, we recover. And somehow it reassures for the future, and I think that it is something that we must preserve and share. Indeed,” he said.

Reporting by NTD.

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