SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Communicates a Divine Beauty That Moves Hearts, Says Singer

Apr 13, 2023

NEW YORK—Audrey Fernandez Fraser, a singer, composer, and co-artistic director of the Christopher Street Collegium, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Lincoln Center on April 12. She is well-versed in bringing sacred songs to life, and she was pleasantly surprised to see that Shen Yun had more than dance in its performances with bel canto singing, including performances of original songs in its production.

“Oh, it was so beautiful,” she said.

Ms. Fernandez Fraser said she expected to see beauty but did not realize she would have such a profound experience. The songs—performed in Chinese, with the lyrics in Chinese and English projected on a digital backdrop—especially moved her.

“I actually wanted to look them up and find them so I can listen again because they really touch something special in my heart,” she said.

“The songs they sang were so touching because of the backdrop and how the words were so big, and the poetry was so concise and beautiful,” she said.

“The singers vocally were so rich and passionate, and it really felt like a sacred experience. Like a heavenly sort of sacred experience. It was really touching.”

From the dance to the music to the art direction, Ms. Fernandez Fraser felt it all came together in a beautiful experience punctuated with moments “where it felt like heaven was bursting through and all these amazing flowing movements and costumes.”

Ms. Fernandez Fraser said the performance was “really amazing.”

“I knew to expect beauty, colorful and grace ... but I didn’t realize how spiritually profound it would be, and also so relevant in terms of these evils that are happening today in the world, and bringing our attention to them also felt really important too.”

Ms. Fernandez Fraser noted that art has the power to move, and even change, people’s hearts, and she hoped Shen Yun would do so for many.

“I hope it will be massive. I hope that people will be moved to dialogue across the borders,” she said.

“And I don’t know how these big systems of oppression change, but I hope that it can change through people’s hearts from just seeing this kind of beauty on a deeper level that they don’t always see, experiencing this poetry and this connection to tradition and to humanity and to the heavens that transcends the sort of material things that people are usually focused on.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, with a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through the arts.

“Please thank them so much,” she added. “It’s spectacular to be able to turn themselves into these instruments that produce, that communicate this divine beauty that we’re talking about. It’s so, so lovely to watch. Inspiring.”

Reporting by Lily Yu.

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