BASEL—The world tour of the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts is in full swing. A total of eight artist groups, each with its own orchestra, will take their audience on a journey through “China before communism.”
On Feb. 15, Shen Yun performed two sold-out performances at the Musical Theater Basel in Switzerland, while on the same day the another one of its touring groups performed two sold-out performances in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany.
Among the visitors in Basel were many music lovers such as Hans König, board member and managing director of the Foundation Coke, and his wife Barbara König-Rache, president of the foundation. One of the foundation’s missions is to support musicians of all ages in Switzerland and internationally.
“We read about it somewhere and then my wife said: ‘We absolutely have to go there!’ And it was really great—something completely different—all the lighting, the choreography and the music,” Mr. König said.
“We are in Switzerland and we always come with this fog and this bad weather. But now you come in here and you leave with a feeling of great happiness. Wonderful,” he said.
He was also full of praise for the dancers. “You can compare them with the best ballerinas from Russia,” he said. “My compliments.”
He was also impressed by the orchestra, which played original compositions with a mixture of traditional Chinese and Western classical instruments. He was amazed by the variety of sounds produced by the erhu, often called the two-stringed violin.
Mr. König said he believed the artistic director was someone who “is happy, who enjoys the colors, who wants to convey a feeling of harmony and happiness to people.”
“The music, the colors, the songs, all the costumes. It was a unity. There was no disruptive factor that would make you say it doesn’t fit. It was an all-round package,” Mr. König said.
Mr. König was moved by Shen Yun’s mission, which he saw to be carried on by many young people. In Switzerland, he said, it is mainly older people who try to preserve traditional culture.
“I think that’s a good thing; they’re carrying it on. And they’re probably passing this spirit on to their children. And that way the next generation is secured,” he said.
In Mülheim an der Ruhr, Priska Strümpfel, a violin teacher by profession, was in the audience.
“This Erhu was sensational. This woman was incredible,” she said. “I’m a violinist myself. I know what it means to coordinate things like that with the bow—it’s amazing! It’s really unbelievably good. And even the fact that such a younger member of society has so much fun, even though it’s not that easy; the subject is brilliantly done.”
Ms. Strümpfel was also appalled that Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in China. “It is of course a catastrophe.” She described it as “madness” that the artist group formed in New York is not allowed to present the culture with classical Chinese dance in its homeland in China.
The fact that people have to meet abroad to preserve the ancient Chinese wisdom is “of course a tragedy.”
