(Clearwisdom.net) For dance teacher and choreographer Ms. Lorenz, the opening performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts on Friday night at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts was something she'd been waiting a long time to see, and she was thoroughly impressed.

Ms. Lorenz teaches modern and theatrical dance, ballet, and jazz.

She said, "It's phenomenal! Yes, this inspired me tremendously. I think the way they used the costumes ... the sleeves, fans and all those instruments, to use those instruments in the choreography, that inspired me so much. And the visual effects of a moving background. It was very inspiring."

Because of her dance background, Ms. Lorenz, who teaches modern and theatrical dance as well as ballet and jazz, could thoroughly appreciate both the technique and the beautiful movements. "The technique of Chinese dance and the artistry is amazing."

She was amazed by the "three dimensional spinning moves" that she doesn't see in the Western style dance. "I came from modern dance. The fusion of ballet and modern in the West is becoming very popular. But it really originated from classical Chinese dance. And that's what I came to learn. It was fascinating to see where the lineage starts. That's what I learned tonight. What they are showing is real professional work within the dance world. It's wonderful because they were absolutely precise and masterful. It was beautiful."

Ms. Lorenz had also trained in gymnastics as well as dance, but she said, "I can't do any of those moves anymore. Because I was a gymnast, it was fun for me to learn that gymnastics came from traditional Chinese classical dancing ... It was really wonderful to hear that tonight. I love the way it was blended, it was very fluid."

She felt the dancers' grace really affected her heart and that they danced, "from their soul." "The artistry and beauty reaches you on that level," she said, adding that Shen Yun truly reflects the divine.

Ms. Lorenz said, "That was so much fun to see. Using the drumming and the dancing and the chopsticks, this kind of brought about this feeling of strength and power to me. And then the flow and the fluidity of the water dances, there were a lot of the elements throughout the whole show. Seeing the water and the air and all that, was wonderful."

While in school, Ms. Lorenz had done one Chinese classical dance piece. "I trained at UCLA and we put on the formal traditional wear and performed and actually I was selected to wear one of the royal gowns. I remember how long it took to put it on; it took three people to put it on me. And [I remember] how hard it was to move once it was on me. The whole traditional style of dancing, I cannot believe how difficult it was, once I had the actual costume on. I was amazed at how great and vibrant the costumes were in this show. It really added a lot to the show. The media effect, the dimension of movement behind so many of the vignettes, it was really wonderful, really unique."

Ms. Lorenz thoroughly enjoyed the performance, "Lady of the Moon." She said, "Her lines were just gorgeous. And then there was the tall male dancer as well in the orange, her husband [in the piece]. Those two were fabulous, those two were very beautiful to watch. The principal dancers ... were amazing."

Ramana Vieira, a contemporary singer of the traditional Portuguese Fado, was one of the highly appreciative audience members who saw Shen Yun Performing Arts on Friday, May 15.

Ramana Vieira, a contemporary singer of the traditional Portuguese Fado

Having previously heard about the world-renowned show, Ms. Vieira was excited to see Shen Yun. "I've heard so much about it ... They were in San Francisco last year and the year before. The set designs and the discipline of the dancers--being a trained dancer myself, I could tell that every one of them must have been doing this since they were very young."

Ms. Vieira said, "I have such a deeper respect for the arts now with the Chinese culture. I knew how beautiful they embrace the arts and it is very clear that there is a part of China that we don't know about. We hear how industrious they are, but the art part really brought that alive for me!"

Ms. Vieira was amazed by the drum performances, "I love the way they danced with the drums. I think that was more of the higher energy part of the show."

An accomplished professional performer herself, having previously sung at the 2006 Winter Olympics, she appreciated the dancers. "I loved the ladies dancing with the costumes and what they did with their sleeves and props, the pink flowers with the fans. It is very synchronized. You can tell that they did many, many hours of rehearsal," she exclaimed.

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/16885/
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