(Clearwisdom.net) Shen Yun Performing Arts, a dance and theater company
that has taken the world by storm, opened at Calgary's Jubilee Auditorium on
Easter Sunday afternoon and touched the hearts of theatergoers. Calgary
dignitaries gathered at a reception after the first show. Among them was the
highest-ranking official from the Calgary Board of Education, Ms. Hubert, who
thanked the performers and sponsors for staging the performance.
"I am very pleased and honored to represent the Calgary Board of Education
at this wonderful performance," she said. "The performers were
extremely talented, the costumes were stunning, the choreography was extremely
complex, and I want to congratulate you on a flawless performance."
New Tang Dynasty Television had sponsored many Calgary students to come to the
show, donating over $3,000 worth of tickets.
"For many of our children, this would be the first time any of them have
ever been to this wonderful facility...and for many of them, this would be the
first time they had seen a program of this caliber."
A student representative also thanked New Tang Dynasty for the tickets, saying
the performers had taken them to China. "The performers from Shen Yun are
very incredible people," said Joe Wang, president of New Tang Dynasty
Television Canada.
"They perform with their hearts, they perform with their compassion, and
everywhere they go, they bring hope. And for that, and on behalf of NTDTV, I
want to thank the incredible artists from Shen Yun."
Former School Principal: They are not just dancing--they are living a story
and you can feel it
Mr. Brignall, director of information systems for a financial company, came to
experience an afternoon of classical Chinese dance, music, and storytelling. He
was accompanied by Mrs. Brignall, former principal of an elementary school.
Mr. Brignall, director of information systems for a financial company, and Mrs. Brignall, former principal of an elementary school (NTDTV)
Having a background in technology, Mr. Brignall was particularly impressed
with the digital backdrop, a trademark of Shen Yun that uses modern technology
to help tell ancient and modern stories.
"I think the backdrops actually help tell the story that they are
portraying. The animation in the backdrops--it's not just still pictures--but
the animation is fantastic. ... Most times the backdrop is purely static, a
picture, a place, that type of thing. But the animation back there, blended with
the choreography, is fantastic," he said.
Mrs. Brignall commented on the performance, "It's beautiful. That
coordination, the technology and how you see them coming out of the [backdrop]
and coming down, and all of a sudden they are on stage. It helps tell the story.
It's fabulous. The material of the costumes is beautiful, it just flows;
beautiful colors."
She was also impressed by the professionalism of the live orchestra,
"Everybody is so in sync. It's blended beautifully. It's hard to
describe."
Mr. Brignall described the dancing as "phenomenal" and was inspired by
how the traditional drumming "gives you a real sense of involvement,"
as the drummers entice the audience with their powerful energy. "You feel
almost part of it as you are watching the drummers on the stage. It is a really
interesting, adrenaline-pushing type of thing," he said.
He also experienced this "sense of involvement" during ["Heaven
Awaits Us Despite Persecution"] in which a father is persecuted for
practicing the traditional spiritual discipline of Falun Dafa. "The little
girl is very good. ... The little girl within the family when the father was
arrested ... Again, you become one of the characters, you feel the empathy for
them, especially in their pain at that point."
Mrs. Brignall was touched by the way the dancers expressed their inner beliefs
through their movements. "I think the stories and the expressions, the mix
of the old and the new, and the culture and the passion they have, and the
belief they have--you can feel it in their faces and expressions as well as
their music. ... They are so involved in the dance. They are not just
dancing--they are living a story and you can feel that."
Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/15226/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/15228/
Category: Shen Yun Performing Arts