SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘Most Impressive Dancing I’ve Ever Seen,’ Composer Says of Shen Yun

Jun 01, 2022

DALLAS, Texas —“The dancing is just extraordinary,” said composer Lisa Bloom. “I’ve never seen dancers who could do such amazing things and the discipline is just amazingly impressive.”

Ms. Bloom was attending the premier New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts at the AT & T Performing Arts Center on May 29.

“I’ve seen a lot of dance and ballet all through my life and this is the most impressive I’ve ever seen,” she said.

Shen Yun is bringing back the long-lost culture of China’s five millennia civilization that was virtually destroyed after the Chinese communist regime came to power.

“The music is gorgeous,” said Ms. Bloom who composes music for film and television.

Shen Yun’s orchestra is a combination of classical Western and traditional Eastern instruments.

Ms. Bloom’s male friend agreed. “The music is really amazing. I like the Chinese instruments added to the Western instruments. The combination is really good.”

The East-West blend introduces traditional Chinese instruments such as the pipa and erhu, a traditional two-stringed violin.

“It’s so unusual, but they’ve done a really magnificent job blending the two [cultures] and also they really know how to dramatize and accentuate the emotions of what’s going on the stage. And I love also how they combined the backdrop. That’s really clever,” said Ms. Bloom.

“[The composer] has mastered all of the Western forms of orchestration that you would use in very powerful film scoring like animation, but yet he’s integrated all of the Eastern themes and there’s a lot of interesting variation and drama. So it’s very exciting,” said Ms. Bloom.

‘Lot More Love in This World’

Also present in the audience were Justin Phillip, a senior cyber security architect, and Charlotte Phillip. The couple attended Shen Yun with Nancy Visel, an entrepreneur, and Thomas Visel, an aerospace engineer.

The friends were enchanted by the story-based dances presented in Shen Yun.

“Monkeying Around in Paradise” a comedy from the classic Chinese novel, “Journey to the West,” and “The Restaurant Tale,” another comedy that shows the friendly jibes between restaurant owners vying for customers, were both very popular.

Mr. Justin Phillip (2nd R) and his wife, Charlotte, (1st R), and their friends Thomas Visel (2nd L) and wife, Nancy Visel (1st L), at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the AT&T Performing Arts Center–Winspear Opera House, Dallas, Texas on May 29, 2022. (Sonia Wu/The Epoch Times) — Mr. Justin Phillip (2nd R) and his wife, Charlotte, (1st R), and their friends Thomas Visel (2nd L) and wife, Nancy Visel (1st L), at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the AT&T Performing Arts Center–Winspear Opera House, Dallas, Texas on May 29, 2022. Sonia Wu/The Epoch Times

Mrs. Phillips also enjoyed the instrumentalist who played the traditional two-string violin, the erhu. “So beautiful,” she said.

“That range of sounds with two strings was amazing,” agreed her husband.

Mrs. Visel loved the colors and the texture which were exemplified in the dance “Water Sleeves,” which also offered a glimpse into the imperial court of a long past dynasty where elegant ladies swirl their long colorful sleeves.

Reviving China’s traditional culture resonated with the group.

Mrs. Phillip said it was important it was for people to support Shen Yun in today’s world.

Mrs. Visel agreed. “I think it’s a wonderful way to learn about other people and who they are from a historical aspect.”

Some of Shen Yun’s dances transmit spiritual messages in their narratives.

“I think it’s important for people to know there’s more than just us … there’s more than just our heightened opinions of ourselves,” said Mr. Phillip.

“There’s a spiritual element in everything, it’s not just pure science. And there’s a spirituality in the West too although we often forget it,” he added. Shen Yun was conveying important messages, he said.

Mrs. Visel also remarked on the issue of spirituality.

“I think the spirituality that was portrayed … is very similar to many cultures all across the world and if people could understand and look at the metaphors in the stories, they would see how much alike we really are, how our hearts are longing for redemption, how we’re looking for the Creator to come back and save us from everything," said Mrs. Visel.

“If we focussed more on those things instead of our differences I think we'd have a lot more love in this world.”

Mr. Visel had been looking forward to seeing Shen Yun for three years and said it had exceeded his expectations. It gave a different, honest, and open perspective on Chinese culture. Mr. Visel was referring to Shen Yun’s portrayal of the Chinese communist regime’s persecution of people because of their spiritual beliefs.

“[Shen Yun] wasn’t afraid to go into places [that] you wouldn’t normally talk about. I just loved that,” he said.

Reporting by Sally Sun , Sonia Wu and Diane Cordemans.

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