DALLAS—“I’m just in awe,” said Ken Towe, director of finance at Lockheed Martin, upon seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas, Jan. 4.
Mr. Towe attended the performance with parents Donald and Jane Towe, and his wife Janet.
“The brilliance of the costumes, everything is so effortless. It’s so well done,” Mr. Towe said. “They’ve done it so many times, you can tell. But it’s just unbelievable how easy they make it look.”
Seeing New York-based Shen Yun had been Mrs. Janet Towe’s idea. Upon seeing an advertisement, she was intrigued but didn’t know what to expect. But seeing Shen Yun’s revival of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, Mrs. Towe was blown away by the artistry of the performance and how much she was learning.
“It’s outstanding,” Mrs. Towe said.
Shen Yun performs classical Chinese dance and folk dances from China’s 55 ethnic minority groups. Each year, Shen Yun puts on an all-new performance, and have performed folk dances like the Yang Ge dance and handkerchief dances.
As Shen Yun’s website explains, “Over China’s long history, the movements and style of each region’s traditional ethnic and folk dances have undergone gradual codification to the point where today they can be widely recognized in the dance world.”
The grace of the dancers was impressive for the two couples as well.
When the female dancers move across the stage, Mr. Towe observed, they don’t walk or move up and down, but “they just glide. I think it’s beautiful.”
Between the brilliance of the costumes and the digital backdrop Shen Yun uses, the experience immersed the couples in color.
“It just seems so surreal,” Mrs. Towe said.
The dancers would appear on stage one moment and on screen the next, with perfect precision and accuracy of timing, they explained.
“It was almost like we were in a movie,” Mrs. Towe said.
The couple said they would recommend the show to those who hadn’t heard of Shen Yun. “I think it’s very interesting. It’s beautiful to start with, and it ... gives you some idea of the country China,” Mr. Towe said.
Reporting by Ruth Li and Catherine Yang
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.