SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Moves Drama Teacher With ‘Connection Between Heaven and Earth’

Feb 05, 2023

LYON, France—Shen Yun Performing Arts opened in Lyon, France Saturday night to a sold-out hall at l’Amphithéâtre 3000.

On Saturday, the Amphitheater 3000 was filled with the warm sounds and colors of Shen Yun Performing Arts, the famous Chinese classical dance and music company based in New York, whose mission is to revive the 5,000 years of history of traditional Chinese culture.

Among the many spectators who came to enjoy the show in Lyon was Jacques-Olivier Jadfard, who teaches drama, yoga, and studies opera singing.

Shen Yun “is outstanding! I really liked the energy. You can feel the Chinese culture and I really liked that because it’s not something you often see,” Mr. Jadfard said.

He felt “an energy in the movements, both softness as they explained, but also strength ... breathtaking acrobatics!”

“I liked the diversity, for example, the women’s dance, you could really feel a softness with the sleeves. It was very, very refined ... Then you could feel the energy of the warrior men. And so I really liked it,” said the young man, his voice filled with emotion.

An opera-singing student, he could also feel that energy during the Shen Yun vocalist’s performances, who practice the original bel canto vocal technique.

“I thought there was good energy in the singing. It’s true that it’s different from what I do because I study the European or Italian classical technique ... but I liked it a lot. The singer had good high notes ... really, this message ... this connection between Heaven and Earth. I liked it very much and it speaks to me deeply.”

In addition to this energy that was omnipresent in the show, Mr. Jadfard said he was moved by the presence of “a harmony between civilization and nature,” and Shen Yun “can open our mind ... because indeed, there is a certain beauty which is missing today.”

He explained that “today, we are very much connected to smartphones, to screens, but not much to the world around us. So I found there was beauty—harmony between civilization and nature, which I really like. There’s also a kind of purity which is missing today.”

Mr. Jadfard was moved by the songs and the dance narratives depicting life in contemporary China, particularly denouncing the current persecution by the Chinese Communist Party of practitioners of Falun Dafa, a spiritual meditation practice based on the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance.

“There is a fight against communism in China ... Personally, I find that, indeed, there has been an oppression of this culture which is unique in the world. There has never been such violence. So really, I was hooked, on the message, the content, the form!” he concluded.

Reporting by NTD and Sarita Modmesaïb.

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