Shen Yun Performance in Washington DC: "It was visually stunning, it just took your breath away"

(Clearwisdom.net)

Michael Karabasz is a soldier in the U.S. Army. He came to the Shen Yun Performing Arts with his entire family on August 26, 2009. When he saw a flyer in the newspaper and in one of the malls, he bought tickets because his youngest daughter Casey loves dance, and the oldest two love theater in general. He said that the choreography was wonderful. The displays of grace and elegance were just phenomenal, and so were the costumes. It was just a very well-done production.

"It was visually stunning, it just took your breath away to look at it that moment when the curtain first went up. It's very hard to compare it to other shows. It was amazing to watch the ability, the natural talent and grace of the dancers. Just amazing! I can certainly say that the dance of the water fairies absolutely took my daughter's breath away. It was wonderful to watch her reaction to the fans and the on stage fog that they used. She just sat in rapt attention, with her hands around her mouth, eyes open and not moving, watching every moment of it ... drinking it in," he stated.

Mr. Karabasz continued: "I enjoyed the entire performance. The artistry was phenomenal. But just watching my daughters enjoy it so much was probably the greatest thing for me. You can see there are a lot of emotional undertones in it. There's a lot of joy in the dancing. It's amazing how much expressiveness they can get into the movements and into their reactions on stage."

When asked what brought them to the show, he said: "We saw the flyer first in the newspaper, and I set it aside to talk to my wife about it, and then we saw the display in one of the local malls, and went over and talked to one of the gentlemen selling the tickets and some of the people there and watched the display. My youngest daughter loves dance, my other two others love theater and music in general, and we thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to take them to see a show at the Kennedy Center.

He also mentioned that normal shows don't have this content anywhere and that this one is very unique, also that it is so artistic and not just movements on the surface.

When the reporter asked Haley Karabasz, one of the daughters, about her impression of the show, she said: "It was absolutely stunning and beautiful. I loved how graceful the dancers moved across the stage. They just seemed to kind of flow across the stage. It was just really beautiful. I liked the dances that had a storyline to them. The story that I remember the most is when the guy was persecuted for what he believed in and I liked how at the end, they still ended up together."

She continued: "I think the audience had a powerful reaction. It's deep. I started crying. I really did during that one." She stated that she was glad that her dad found the tickets and brought them here.

She also mentioned that she really liked how they put the music together. "I'm not really sure how to explain it. I wanted to get up and dance too.

Retired Air Force and Department of Defense Employee:

Mr. Tipmongkol is a retired Air Force Officer and Department of Defense employee. He brought his family and shared his impression about the show: "I was really impressed with the music, the whole thing was a very beautiful presentation, and very well done, I was very impressed with everything. For me, I like the drummers a lot, the Tibet Dance ("Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain"), and the Chopstick dance ("Mongolian Chopsticks"). I liked the synchronization, the way that everything flowed together and the way the music and the dancing went together and told the story."

He stated: "We have seen Chinese acrobat shows, but this is the first of this kind of show that we've seen."

The message and values Mr. Tipmongkol received from the show were: "Well, the show tried to convey, that the goal of life is to live in balance and harmony and achieve peace, and believe there is a higher power--these are universal messages that resonate. It is definitely, something that you need to come and see. It's very good, from an aspect of the spectacle of it, and seeing the performance, and getting an insight into some Chinese culture as well. It was very enlightening for me."

Patti Tipmongkol, is a Nurse who accompanied her husband to the show. She shared her impression of the show: "We happened to be at the mall, and we saw some people with fliers and videos and we thought that sounded fun, so we thought we would do this before she went back to school. I love all the flowing costumes, everything was just beautiful, and they dance so elegantly. Everything was very smooth, it was amazing, beautiful costumes, absolutely gorgeous. My favorite was the dance "Flowing Sleeves". All of the stories are memorable. I always remember the sad stories. When the little girl loses her Daddy, that got to me."

Sarah Tipmongkol is nine years old and said about the show: "It was awesome, I like the rainbow skirts the best." She also learned something about China: "Yes, that well, if you don't follow the governments rules you might get killed." Her favorite program was "The Monkey King Triumphs.

Mother Patti stated that they liked the program "Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride", saying: "He was trying to tell people there was a boulder falling, and nobody listened to him." When asked what she learned from that program, she said: "Well that you should probably listen to somebody if they try to tell you something."

Former U.S. Intelligence Employee: It's a wonderful show

A former U.S. Intelligence Employee, who used to work at the Pentagon, stated: "It's a wonderful show, with beautiful colors. The choreography was just outstanding. Very professional! We read in the brochures that the dancers have had serious training from when they were young. They're so soft and their flexibility is just amazing. It came from the heart. The stories, the folklore and the stories I never even heard of until now. The story about the moon, and the girl and the man. I didn't quite understand it at first, but that was definitely new to me."

Her sister saw a show brochure and wanted to come because she had seen it in Portland, Oregon before. She mentioned: "It's very professional. The music was wonderful, especially the two stringed instrument, the erhu. That musician was just so... it hits the heart. Just beautiful! It reminds me a lot of the stories we've seen regarding China. Just the sound of it, it really gets to the heart. It brought out much sadness, but yet it brought out a lot of joy at the same time. When she started playing a little more joyously, that was a surprise, a pleasant, pleasant surprise.