BATON ROUGE, La.—Baton Rouge River Center Theater hosted Shen Yun Performing Arts From March 24 through March 25, 2015.

Dr. Richard Webb, professor and Dean Emeritus of the College of Arts and Humanities at Southern University in Baton Rouge, and a musician, attended Shen Yun on March 24.

“The sopranos were absolutely magnificent, and the pianist is a wonderful collaborator. I'd like to give her credit as well. I didn’t get to meet her, but she is a talented young person,” said Dr. Webb.

“The lyrics were welded beautifully into the music. The poetry was just exquisite, and I was very struck by the entire performance.”

“The resounding voices of bel canto soloists are an integral part of the Shen Yun experience. Each program is heightened by several moving selections from our singers. Their impassioned songs give voice to hopes that have shaped Chinese culture for centuries,” says Shen Yun’s website.

“A Shen Yun performance features the world’s foremost classically trained dancers, a unique orchestra blending East and West, and dazzling animated backdrops—together creating one spectacular performance,” said the company on its website.

“The erhu, it is just like the soul singing through the string and the bow. This lady played so expressively and so wonderfully. I will never forget that, and I think many around us felt the same way … It’s very emotional thing, and to think what a delicate and small instrument it is,” said Dr. Webb.

The two-stringed erhu is 4,000 years old and continues to stir audiences with its hauntingly beautiful sounds that have been compared both to the sound of the violin and the human voice.

Sophistication and Grace

“I’m absolutely amazed, the sophistication, the grace, and the athleticism that is under absolute control. The conductor starts, and everything comes to life, it’s magical,” said Dr. Webb.

He continued, “The backdrop is very imaginative. All of the pictures are beautiful, and even in the scene that did not have the computer animation there are very subtle little things in the picture that fit the dances. ”It’s very very clever, when you see the people step in and out of the animation. You really feel you can step into the animation yourself. It’s so stimulating to your own mind, and your own vision.”

“The backdrops are magical windows to completely different realms … the digital projection infinitely expands and transforms the stage,” said Shen Yun on its website.

Inspirational

Ms. Shirley Dunbur, retired banker, and her daughter Ms. Darlene Laborde, a marketing manager, were in the audience for the Tuesday show.

“The inspirational messages are very good. The message I heard is that we came down from heaven. We have to redeem ourselves after we sinned and then we go back to heaven,” she said.

Ms. Laborde agreed with her mother and said, “I was very impressed. ... The talents were just amazing. The singer gave me an inspirational message.”

She continued, “I appreciated the subtitles so I could understand the message that the singer gave us. I totally agree that we have to learn from history.”

“The colors are vibrant and uplifting, it was very soothing, relaxing and inspiring,” said Ms. Laborde.

Reporting by Stacy Chen and Heide B. Malhotra

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.

Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006