“It was visually stunning!,” he said. “And of course the dancing was amazing. I didn’t realize that a lot of modern ballet is based upon what I saw today, and, so, it filled in that history, which I thought was very, very valuable.”
The dances, based on Chinese classical dance from ancient Chinese culture, helped him to appreciate the performance. “Stunning! It really was. The subtleties and the movements. I would imagine the more I knew about the culture, the more meaningful it would become. So next time I’ll have what I learned tonight to appreciate what I see next time. So each time you come, you get more and more of it.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists and quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture.Bill said he has a background in music and loved the vocalists. “Beautifully done. And the singing. I graduated from this school [California State University], and my degree was in music. I was ready to sing opera in Germany. I had scholarships coming here,” he said. “And so I appreciate the tenor and the baritone: very very good. To sing in the middle of a large stage to a large group like that, and how they were able to project is terrific, it really was. They are very talented people.”
The lyrics affected Bill. “The situation about what’s going on in mainland China right now is a travesty for humanity, in my opinion. And these people are so brave to be able to break away from that. They represent what is of value in the history, which is kind of being eradicated. It’s beautifully done and very eloquent,” he said.
Bill said he heard about Shen Yun on radio and television. “I’ve known about it for years. This was the first chance we had to come and see it, and it’s wonderful.” He brought some other people to see the performance.
He said, “Yes, I will be back. I’ve got a group or three others that are with me, and we’re going to come back next year.”
Reporting by Linda Jiang
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