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Parisians Delighted to See the Revival of Traditional Chinese Culture Through the Arts (Photos)

March 1, 2009 |   Compiled by Clearwisdom staff

(Clearwisdom.net) Shen Yun Divine Performing Arts on its global tour and third stop in Europe, debuted today, February 27, at the Paris Palais de Congrès in Paris; an international popular venue for economic, social and cultural activities in France.

The Shen Yun artists dazzled the Parisian audience, much as it did audiences in Frankfurt, Germany and Antwerp, Belgium.

The artists were honored with much warm applause by a captivated audience, who enjoyed story-based dances from China's 5,000-year-old history, as well as present day events.

Tonight, Parisians were treated to a unique orchestra, not seen or heard before in the Western or Eastern hemisphere--bringing together two of the world's greatest classical music traditions, Chinese and Western, in a masterful fusion.

Sir Andre Dunstetter, an artist and renowned French patron of the arts, was among the audience. He is the patron of the Association for a Radiating National Opera of Paris (AROP), where art lovers gather. Many of the greatest names that live in Paris are among those that frequent AROP, including the Rothschild family and Prince Aga Khan.

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Sir Andre Dunstetter and friends (Courtesy of Website www.capetiens.com)

Sir Dunstetter had been looking forward to seeing the revival of traditional Chinese culture through classical Chinese dance and music--an art form several millennia old.

Sir Dunstetter shared his first impression during the VIP cocktail party offered by the "Light of Asia" association, a sponsor of the event, "This show is so full of messages. One perceives them through the symbolism of the dances, and even more so through the lyrics of the songs. This is what speaks out the most to me."

We admire the revival of China's traditional culture

Opening night brought Mr. Jean-Marie Le Pen, president of the French National Front Party, the far-right conservative Party, and his wife Jany Paschos, to the theater for the opening night of the performance.

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Mr. Jean Marie Le Pen and his wife

Mr. Le Pen and his wife were quite impressed with the show, "This is a wonderful and very poetic show that emits an authentic spirituality. It is very nice and suggestive at the same time. It is obvious that the themes are allegories meant to heighten the soul rather than lowering it to materialism."

Mr. Le Pen was deeply impacted by the performance. He said, "The quality of the staging design was stunning; the background animations were simply extraordinary. I have spent a very nice evening attending this show of high inspiration."

Regarding the mission of Shen Yun Divine Performing Arts to preserve and restore traditional Chinese culture, Mr Le Pen said, "We are lovers of our country and its rich tradition. We do therefore fully understand and support the fact that Chinese people are trying to revive their past tradition. In fact, we do admire that too."

I feel inspired to be righteous!

Mr. Remigiusz Szmytko, an engineer for a leading French firm, readily shared his impressions after watching the opening show on February 27. He was deeply touched by the performance titled "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution."

"It's really compassion. Through this art, I could understand the situation. The whole thing is very convincing. There was a strength. The dances from ancient China are pretty, but here we see something that relates to what's happening now. It's a connection between art and how we should conduct ourselves, it's about life. I am very clear on this thought, it's what I'm feeling and I'm very surprised to have this reaction."

Mr. Szmytko added, "The way in which this scene is depicted plays an important role, because it's very contrasted. There is black and then later there are colors, that's my interpretation, it's what I, quite simply, felt."

He shared, "Ultimately, one could say that you have to choose between good and evil, as the lyrics on display were telling. Speaking of which, the songs are very nice, they're sung with enormous conviction. I can feel that, because I sang a bit before."

Mr. Szmytko appreciated the translation on the stage backdrop for the Chinese lyrics, he said, "I brought together the lyrics to understand the whole performance which is stimulating, energetic. Moreover, the colors, the music, everything comes together to create a whole impression from which I feel inspired and which reminds me to behave with more righteousness, more wisdom, in a way more just ... that's how I can express it."

Source: http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/12806/
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