NEW YORK CITY—As a professional musician, classical and baroque flutist Robin Waite wanted to comment on the orchestra of Shen Yun Performing Arts first. The unique ensemble caught her ear, and Ms. Waite thought its execution and role in the performance amazing.
“I thought
the orchestra was exquisite. Everything was in tune, the color scheme was amazing, the music was beautiful, it was wonderful to be introduced to all the unique Chinese instruments,“ Ms. Waite said after seeing Shen Yun’s last performance in New York for the season at Lincoln Center on April 13. ”Beautiful. Exquisite. ... and the 3D interactive scenery I thought was perfectly done. I would recommend it.”
“I was listening to the flutist. She was amazing,” she said.
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier
classical Chinese dance company, with a
mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization—China before communism.
Shen Yun translates as “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” and Ms. Waite described the experience similarly.
“It was like watching angels dance without wings,” she said. “You can’t even hear them landing ... there’s no gravity. It’s beautiful. Exquisite.
“Costuming. The flow, the line ... Can you imagine anything better?”
A lover of the arts, Ms. Waite said she has attended ballet all her life, and appreciated discovering the new stories and dance in Shen Yun. As the emcees explain during the performance, classical Chinese dance is,
alongside ballet, one of the most comprehensive dance forms in the world. The art form dates back thousands of years, and is famously expressive, making it well suited to tell stories from China’s 5,000-year history.
“This was just very unique, different stories. I love it,” she said. “It was all very clear. You didn’t need any words.”
Ms. Waite said she had read about the Chinese communist regime’s taking power in 1949, and the subsequent destruction of the traditional Chinese culture by the regime. Seeing
Shen Yun a week before Easter, Ms. Waite felt the artists were conveying a spiritual message to revitalize that once nearly lost traditional Chinese culture.
“Everyone needs God. Everyone needs a spiritual life. And that’s what it really brought forward,” she said.
Reporting by Frank Liang and Catherine Yang.
