SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Taichung’s Artists in Awe at Shen Yun

Mar 23, 2015

TAICHUNG, Taiwan—A business owner said “I feel deeply inspired after watching such a pure performance.” Li Shihua is director of Hau & Wang Culture Creation. Her company provides consultation on etiquette, wine, makeup, interior design, and fashion. She attended New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts at Taichung’s Chung Shan Hall.

Taiwanese artists, following the teachings of ancient Chinese culture, work to improve their temperament and character, in addition to mastering the skills and techniques of their art. Many artists came to see Shen Yun perform in Taiwan.

Shen Yun's "messages come to life after our hearts resonate with this performance, and then we are able to change ourselves."

— Li Shihua, director of Hau & Wang Culture Creation

Ms. Li said she was inspired, and her comments evoked that idea of an artist working to improve his character. “The messages from Shen Yun are not something superficial. Rather, these messages come to life after our hearts resonate with this performance, and then we are able to change ourselves.”

Ms. Li spoke of the dance The Power of Compassion.

“Even if your enemy attacks you nonstop, you must respond with compassion. I think this is hard. However, we must be able to overcome this difficulty in order to elevate and become a better person,” said Ms. Li.

A New Era of East and West

Yu Chuanchi, a traditional Chinese landscape painter, at Shen Yun in Taichung on March 19. (Su Yufan/Epoch Times) — Yu Chuanchi, a traditional Chinese landscape painter, at Shen Yun in Taichung on March 19. Su Yufan/Epoch Times

At the heart of a Shen Yun performance is classical Chinese dance, accompanied by a live orchestra that blends two of the world’s great classical music traditions—East and West, according to its website. Shen Yun also includes ethnic and folk dances, original handmade costumes, and an interactive projected backdrop.

Shen Yun has positioned itself at an unique artistic crossroad, which is at the junction between the East, the West, the tradition and the modern

— Yu Chuanchi, a painter of traditional Chinese landscape

“Shen Yun has positioned itself at an unique artistic crossroad, which is at the junction between the East, the West, the tradition and the modern,” said Yu Chuanchi, who paints traditional Chinese landscapes.

“Shen Yun is leading towards a new era, one that is more encompassing and inclusive,” said Mr. Yu, and added that anyone who understands such new era would be able to learn something new and apply it to their own art.

This idea was clear in three dances, Chopsticks Dance of the Mongolian Ladies, Snow-Capped Celebration and In A Village of The Hmong, according to Mr. Yu.

“Ancient Chinese culture can assimilate cultures from other ethnic groups, which shows refined spiritual aspects that are unique only to the ancient culture,” said Mr. Yu.

Snow-Capped Celebration is a Tibetan ethnic dance set in the pristine snow-capped Himalayas. The Hmong, one of the sub-groups of the Miao, are an ethnic group from southern China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Speaking as a painter, Mr. Yu thought the scenery portrayed in the digital backdrop was distinctive. “Chinese landscape paintings are different from normal landscape painting,” said Mr. Yu. “When a painter treats Mother Nature with benevolence and virtue, the painting he creates is a Chinese landscape painting.”

United With the Dancers

Chen Hsinyuin, a pianist, at Shen Yun's opening night at Chungshan Auditorium on March 18. (Chen Zhida/Epoch Times) — Chen Hsinyuin, a pianist, at Shen Yun's opening night at Chungshan Auditorium on March 18. Chen Zhida/Epoch Times

“After watching all these different pieces, I feel I don’t have any regrets in life anymore. I am so deeply touched,” said Chen Hsinyuin, a pianist who earned a Master’s Degree in music from University of California, Berkeley.

She was moved by the spirits of the artists. “I think the female dancers are just like angels from heaven. And the male dancers are like holy saints from heaven,” added Ms. Chen.

Shen Yun’s website says, “Classical Chinese dance is a culture left to us by the ancients who came before us. Its beauty should be riches shared by all of humanity.”

“I feel like I have gone to heaven. At one moment during the performance, I felt I had united with the dancers,” said Ms. Chen.
Reporting by Chen Zhida and Frank Fang

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.

Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006

Original articles in Chinese. 1. 2. 3.