ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Micaela Letizia-Brunelle had been wanting to see Shen Yun Performing Arts for years and was delighted with the performance she attended on March 15 with her husband, Dennis, to celebrate her birthday.
“I think it was gorgeous. The
costumes are amazing and so visually it’s amazing,“ said Mrs. Letizia-Brunelle, a music director, musician, and performer. ”I especially actually like the
male dancers ... the women’s [dance] is gorgeous. It’s just fluid and gentle but you can see the athleticism there as well. They make it look effortless.”
To Mrs. Letizia-Brunelle’s surprise, she learned that not only was Shen Yun not from China nor sponsored by the state, but Shen Yun is banned in China, and its
artists would be subjected to religious persecution by the Chinese communist regime should they go to China today.
“So I actually learned that tonight with
the narration and it made it a deeper experience,” she said.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Through
music and
dance, Shen Yun aims to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, sharing with audiences the beauty of China before communism.
Shen Yun was also filled with many other visual and production surprises, Mrs. Letizia-Brunelle said. There was a cinematic
backdrop in which the dancers seemed to take flight and a live orchestra in the pit that performed original music blending ancient Chinese melodies with classical orchestral arrangements.
“Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful. Oh, it is. I actually had to check to see if there was an actual
orchestra down there and I love the special effects,“ she said. ”Also the
vocalist ... that was an amazing sound.”
Mrs. Letizia-Brunelle added that she certainly wasn’t the only one wowed by the performance.
“This little girl, I was watching her and she was getting so excited when they were floating up to the top. And I would actually watch the people next to me and see their reactions as well. And they were leaning forward and laughing and just really involved in it,” she said. “That’s a whole part of the experience, too, I think. Not just your own but watching everybody else’s, especially the young ones.”
“Really, it’s beautiful. It’s just beautiful to the eyes. The music’s gorgeous,” she said. “It really is a spectacle.”
Reporting by Sherry Dong and Catherine Yang.
