SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Taiwanese National Treasure Painter Says Shen Yun Made Him Feel 20 Years Younger

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Taiwanese National Treasure Painter Says Shen Yun Made Him Feel 20 Years Younger
Mr. Chen Chung-tsang, Taiwan’s national treasure painter, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli, Taiwan, on Feb. 24, 2023. Lung Fang/The Epoch Times

MIAOLI, Taiwan—Mr. Chen Chung-tsang, a painter named one of Taiwan’s national living treasures, said he had never seen a show’s backdrop as amazing as Shen Yun’s, and the whole show was uplifting and made him feel 20 years younger.

“I’m an 86-year-old. But I feel I’m 68 years old now after attending Shen Yun,” he said with a loud laugh after the performance at the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli on Feb. 24.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and this year, with eight simultaneously touring companies, is set to complete its biggest tour yet. In Taiwan, Shen Yun will perform more than 30 performances over about a month, all of which are already sold out.
Mr. Chen is also president of the Chen Chung-tsang art museum. He is a famous ink painter and watercolor painter in Taiwan and neighboring countries. He has held exhibitions all around the world and is an honorary member of artist associations in Japan and South Korea. He said he had seen Shen Yun twice before, yet was still shocked by Shen Yun’s beauty anew.
“The backdrop is the best in the world. It showed us heaven. It’s really extremely beautiful,” he said. “In my artistic life, I have never seen anything like Shen Yun’s backdrop. The wonderful part of the backdrop is it serves as a foil to the dancers. They coordinate neatly and perfectly.”

Shen Yun’s patented dynamic backdrop is indeed one-of-a-kind. It interacts with dancers on stage, which can both explain the story-based dances while bringing audiences into the stories.

Mr. Chen was impressed by Shen Yun dancers.

“The dancers are stunning in coordination. They synchronized with each other so accurately. They danced using their full hearts. Oh, watching their dancing, I forgot who I am,” he said. “Where did I think I was? I felt I was dancing with them in those stories on the stage.”

“I’m very glad that I attended Shen Yun. I’m very happy now,” he said.

Mr. Chen noted that the emcees had shared that Shen Yun artists are people of faith.

“Everybody should have a faith in their lives. We should have a life target as well. Then we will be happy spiritually,” he said with a big smile.

Shen Yun has a mission to show the beauty and goodness of “China before communism.” For 5,000 years, China’s civilization was built on values and virtues from the spiritual teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

‘Nourishing Our Minds and Bodies’

“Shen Yun is fascinating and nourishing our minds and bodies. After attending Shen Yun, my brain works better. So, the show can open up our wisdom ,and activate our cells,” said Ms. Lin Chin-mei, a music teacher and a winner of the Taiwan Education Ministry’s Teacher Awards.

Ms. Lin loved the music.

“Shen Yun’s live orchestra plays the melodies to the extreme and minds every detail. I admire the conductor. She did a great job,” she said. “It’s difficult to play music to this level. The musicians must be talented.”

She said all Shen Yun artists are talented in her eyes, the musicians as great as the dancers, and together, they “coordinate with each other perfectly. And then we can enjoy this majestic show!” she said.

Ms. Lin appreciated the traditional values that Shen Yun delivers, such as loyalty, propriety, wisdom, justice, and benevolence—values that are universal and shared the world over.

“The fantastic Shen Yun purified our human hearts and cleansed our society,” she said. “We are lucky to attend the show. We are blessed. Many of my friends attended today.”

Each Shen Yun performance consists of nearly 20 vignettes, presented through highly-expressive art forms such as classical Chinese dance, original orchestral music performed live, soloists who sing in the bel canto tradition, animated digital backdrops, and more.

Ms. Lin Chin-mei (L), a winner of the Taiwan Education Ministry’s Teacher Awards, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts with a friend at the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli, Taiwan, on Feb. 24, 2023. (Chen Yu-jou/The Epoch Times)
Ms. Lin Chin-mei (L), a winner of the Taiwan Education Ministry’s Teacher Awards, attends Shen Yun Performing Arts with a friend at the Miaobei Art Center in Miaoli, Taiwan, on Feb. 24, 2023. Chen Yu-jou/The Epoch Times

‘Divine Beings Dancing’

Entrepreneur Mr. Liu Chia-ming attended Shen Yun for the first time. He said: “The dancers’ movements are really like divine beings dancing. It’s a big pleasure to our eyes and hearts.”

The name “Shen Yun” can be translated into the “beauty of divine beings dancing.”

“The show inspired us to be kind, and tried to bring us back to a perfect world that respects morality,” he said. “I think it will be the happiest thing if a person can take his sweetheart to attend Shen Yun.”

Mr. Liu said, after going home, he would tell all his friends to attend Shen Yun.

Reporting by Epoch Times Staff in Miaoli, Taiwan.
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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