SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Theater Artist Amazed By, Grateful for Shen Yun

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Theater Artist Amazed By, Grateful for Shen Yun
Harolyn Sharpe at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Thrasher-Horne Center at St. Johns River State College on Jan. 28, 2025. NTD

ORANGE PARK, Fla.—As someone who has worked in theater, Harolyn Sharpe knows about the work that is involved in putting together a production. She expressed her gratitude for what Shen Yun Performing Arts has accomplished.

“Thank you for what has to be an enormous amount of invested time and giving up other parts of life to go on tour to present this to other people, other cultures. I appreciate that investment that they have given, that training that they have done. And it is not halfway done, the professionalism of the dancing, of the music,” said Ms. Sharpe, a theater artist and retired teacher.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is based in New York, and its mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.

“It’s just amazing how it all comes together. The theatrical, technical parts, the dance, the costumes, the props, and then the story that’s told with those ingredients. And I was majorly impressed with, what in theater we call the blocking. In dance, you call it the choreography,” said Ms. Sharpe.

Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive and expressive dance systems in the world.

“Even at the distance that I was in the auditorium, I could still tell there were lots of facial expressions as well as the physical dance and choreography movement. It was extremely believable,” said Ms. Sharpe.

Shen Yun’s dance stories come from Chinese literature, history, myth, and legend. Many of these stories require a little bit of context explanation by the masters of ceremony.

Ms. Sharpe expressed her gratitude for “the context of the story that was given by the announcer that helps pull us in, as well as some of the context given in the program to look at that ahead of time.”

Some of the dance stories include the portrayal of the divine, especially a portrayal of the Creator descending to the earth, which resonated with Ms. Sharpe.

“I just happen to agree that there is a Creator and that the creation was made through love and care. And that if we, as the created, can accept that divine providence and that divine purpose, what a wonderful world we would have,” Ms. Sharpe said.

Ms. Sharpe remarked that she appreciated the way Shen Yun displayed respect for the Creator.

“I like the way that when the Creator came, that all the other characters, participants on stage, were accepted and came together,” she said.

Shen Yun’s use of its digital backdrop is patented. The versatility of technology allows the set to change scenes in the blink of an eye, giving the stage endless possibilities.

“I was also very impressed with the way things moved from live, real stage into the screen depictions and the fluidity between the two. I was very impressed with the technical skills to make that story larger that way, more encompassing that way,” said Ms. Sharpe.

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