The anthropomorphic swine character of Chinese legend, Pigsy, is featured in one of several ancient tales spun by the New York-based performing arts company, which strives to “revive a culture that was almost lost” during China’s Cultural Revolution.
Shen Yun, which goes to great lengths to distinguish itself from performances based in China proper, goes so far as to advertise the words “China before communism” plainly on its billboards.
“I think the biggest takeaway is just how incredible and how the culture lives still today,” Ms. Farrell said.
The local radio host wasn’t the only one in the theater with a penchant for expressing themselves before live audiences. Greg English, a musician and pop singer, saw the same performance alongside his girlfriend, Petra Mutch, a journalist.
Naturally, as a musician, Mr. English paid attention to Shen Yun’s unique orchestra, saying how he loves that it combines Chinese and Western instruments together with the dance segments, giving the show a potent acoustic element.
“I always find that a really interesting instrument compared to the traditional Western violin,” he said. “Brilliant! Two strings, the bow is attached in between it all the time. Interesting! Yes, and the whole kind of glissando thing, it’s very much closer to like a human voice singing.”
Some say each note resonating from the performer of this erhu carries compassion, and Mr. English agrees: “very much so.”
“Very emotional, very communicative,” he added. “Music is a language, but the erhu seems to be closer to a human voice speaking, to me.”
Members of the audience often speak of returning to traditional values, such as following the Golden Rule or being kind to one another. One woman in the audience today echoed that idea to a tee.
Miss Universe Canada 2023 Madison Kvaltin, who sat fairly close to the stage, recalled what moved her most: “I think just coming back and caring for other people. There was a lot of scenes of protection and love for other people,” she said. “I really love that. It’s a good reminder to people in general to help each other whenever we can.”
Meanwhile, watching the long sleeves of the delicate ladies who seemed to float across the stage with fabric flowing like water, Ms. Kvaltin noted some of the magic behind Shen Yun.
“I really loved seeing the power of fabric,” she said. “A lot of intricacies with the designs and fabric flowing and kind of creating texture itself—I really loved that part.”
“I think all the artists were divine. I think that’s a great word to use,” she added. “Everything was so magically put together.”
