San Diego: "I Loved the Underlying Spirituality of Shen Yun" (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) Shen Yun Performing Arts finished an exhilarating three-show run at the San Diego Civic Theatre, in San Diego, California, on July 13-15, 2010.

"I Loved the Underlying Spirituality of Shen Yun"

John Kumar, a senior Enterprise Architect born in India.

Among the many distinguished guests at the show was John Kumar, a senior Enterprise Architect born in India and now residing in San Diego.

"I really enjoyed the music, and the dance, and the choreography, but transcending all of that, I think, is the underlying culture and the spirituality of the show," Mr. Kumar said, adding, the show was "great, fantastic!"

Mr. Kumar also appreciated the live orchestra and the fact that the vocalists' words were displayed in English, on the background screen.

He thought the show was "very colorful. It's very soothing to the eyes, the music is really great. I enjoyed the soprano and the tenor.

"The music, the color, the choreography, the culture, the history, I think it's all [blended together] really well," he said.

Mr. Kumar said he loved all the stories, especially "Wu Song Battles the Tiger."

Mr. Kumar thought the portrayal of the persecution of the Falun Dafa spiritual movement by China's communist regime was "fantastic."

"I think it's true to life, but yet there is hope. So I really enjoyed that piece," he said.

When he was asked to give his overall impression of Shen Yun, he said, "It's gorgeous. I love it. I've been all over the world, I've been to the Russian ballet, the London Symphony and the Vienna Orchestra, all of the world literally, but one of the things that struck me was that when the Chinese women moved, it's like floating. It's not just walking, but floating in the air. It's simply new to me, I hadn't seen this form of art before."

Filipino Journalist: "I Feel Touched"

Also in the audience was Virginia Glass, a writer with the San Diego-based Filipino Press. She said that she had attended Shen Yun before and loved it.

"It's not my first time coming, and I really enjoyed it again. It's very peaceful, very colorful, and very professional."

During the show, Ms. Glass looked around and noticed that the audience was fully engaged and delighted by each performance.

"I thought about the immediacy of it - the color, the people, the enjoyment the audience was getting out of it."

Seeing Shen Yun triggered her awareness of the plight of her own people in the Philippines. She said that she was filled with mixed emotions. She felt "excited and thinking of the similarity of all people having to suffer to get to where they want to be.

"I feel touched, and I wish I had started writing about Shen Yun sooner because there are a lot of people who would be anxious to see this."

She concluded by saying that she would "highly recommend" the show to others, as "[China has a] fantastic history, which was very well-interpreted."

When she found out that the show was traveling next to Sacramento, San Francisco, and the Bay Area, she said, "Oh, the Bay Area, a lot of Filipinos will catch it there." As she hopes they will see her written article about the show.

Shen Yun an Unforgettable Performance

Ms. Ava Maxam and her companion Nigel.

Ava Maxam, who works with geographical navigation systems, and her companion, Nigel, a math teacher, were also in the audience.

Ms. Maxam said that she thoroughly enjoyed the performance. "This is the first time I have been exposed to Chinese culture in this way," she said.

"It was very refreshing, very different. There was a lot that was unexpected. Just amazing in terms of the performances. The dancing, the vocals, the costume, everything was excellent."

Ms. Maxam said that she was surprised and moved to see the dance set depicting the ongoing persecution of members of the spiritual discipline, Falun Dafa.

"I think that was very, very moving. It basically signified lots of tension, the unrest that continues now. That I felt especially, with the child representing innocence, having to witness this happening to her mother. That was very, very moving to me."

Out of the many performing arts shows that Ms. Maxam has taken in, the one aspect of Shen Yun that stands out most for her is the fact that the show combines a lot of different art forms, all rolled into one.

"There was the dancing, which I could see was very complex, very intricate, very athletic--especially the parts with the male dancers. And what was also surprising for me was learning that a lot of the dance moves actually originated from Chinese classical dance."

Nigel said that he felt that there was a common thread running throughout the performance.

"A spiritual path ... very meaningful," he said. "What I learned is that spirituality and the culture of Chinese people are all wrapped up into one."

Ms. Maxam said that she "would recommend the show to everyone. It was exhilarating. It was beyond my expectations. ... Truly, this performance was unforgettable."

Nigel agreed, "I would say come with an open mind. You'll be very impacted."

Source:

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