(Clearwisdom.net) Shen Yun Performing Arts played the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu on March 31 to a highly appreciative audience. The Rev. Sky St. John, a minister of the Unity Church of Hawaii, was deeply moved by everything he saw.

The Rev. Sky St. John, a minister of the Unity Church of Hawaii

"I thought it was beautiful. I loved the costumes. The thing I loved the most was the stories that were in the dances. They were beautiful stories. They had great morals, meaning and history. I loved it. They weren't long protracted things, you saw it in the vignette, and you got it. It was beautiful!" he said.

The Rev. St. John said that he found Shen Yun's presentation of Mulan to be very powerful. Referring to the performance, 'Dignity and Compassion', he was particularly struck by the portrayal of how a woman who was imprisoned rescued her guard from his moral morass with the power of her compassion. "Beautiful!" was the word he used over and over again.

The Rev. St. John noted the theme of heaven in this performance and the idea that every culture has a concept of heaven, no matter what its religious views. "There's always this idea of good winning out in the end. I love that. That's great," he said. He discussed the universal theme that every culture has a heaven. He felt that many stories in the performances put across the notion that this life is connected to rewards that will come, which he described as "a wonderful message."

After watching the opening performance, Mr. Hicks said, "I'm going to come back tomorrow ... because I have to come back. I'm going to bring a couple of friends with me!"

Mr. Hicks

Mr. Hicks recently retired from General Motors, and is an avid theatergoer. He said, "I enjoyed the show. Very artistic. This is a first time for me seeing something like this, and I really enjoyed it."

"I liked all the colors and costumes. It was just so colorful, and the background, how the screen would fit right in with what they were doing [on stage]. How it all just incorporated together. It was just ... beautiful, really beautiful."

"The young lady who was playing the two stringed erhu just blew me away ... It just amazed me," said Mr. Hicks.

Another one of his favorites was Drummers of the Tang Court. "The drummers ... I was speechless ... I mean really, I was speechless. Very nice."

Mr. Hicks said, "I was focused on the movements with the fingers, the hands, the legs, the feet and the short steps everyone was taking, and how everyone was synchronized. Everyone on stage was synchronized, it was just really nice. But the thing that really caught me was, whoever thought of the backdrop projection, how it incorporates with what they are doing on stage. It looked like someone was flying across the sky, and just came down. From where I was sitting it just looked nice."

On the evening of March 31, Ms. Baron, a retired television producer, watched Shen Yun.

Ms. Baron said that because of her background in film, she was really impressed with the visuals of the show. "It's been incredible how they have brought the slides into the production and made it all part the show. It is very exciting."

Ms. Baron, a retired television producer and her friend Penny

"Even though I have been involved in film and television, I'm really kind of excited about how they have been able to accomplish this and I am sure that people were blown away by what they have seen here tonight!"

Discussing the performance, "Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride," Ms. Baron said, "It scared me to death when the mountain came tumbling down. I was wondering how they were going to do that."

"That was very frightening. Very well executed, the story came across very strong." Ms. Baron was referring to "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution." The dance tells the story of a father who is persecuted for practicing Falun Gong.

With Ms. Baron was Penny, who was also impressed with the show. Penny's favorite piece was also the one about monk Ji Gong. "I loved the rocks falling. Because it was so unexpected. You knew something was going to happen."

She also liked the drumming pieces, saying, "The last one with the drummers, although there was another drum piece before, with the girls drumming. The last one was very strong. It was beautifully choreographed."

Dr. Wen, physician and radiologist, and his wife flew in from Maui to Honolulu just to see Shen Yun. He said he had heard about Shen Yun when he was in San Francisco earlier this year. "It is spectacular. It is incredible!" he said. Both Dr. and Mrs. Wen said they were very happy they had made the trip.

Dr. Wen and his wife flew in from Maui to Honolulu to see the show

"It's very colorful and very, very entertaining," said Dr. Wen. "I think I liked during the first half when they used the fan as the flower to celebrate the spring. That is my favorite piece."

Mrs. Wen said she also loved the performances. "I love everything, it is beautiful. The music is beautiful too. I just liked everything, it is beautiful!"

Mr. Lucero, Director of Leadership at Brigham Young University, described the combination of the colors, the motion and the dancing as "smooth, flowing [and] exciting!"

He said there was a nice mix of traditional and modern elements. Overall he found the show "beautiful."

Mr. Lucero's favorite piece was "Flowing Sleeves," "I really enjoyed that they were all together, the way the sleeves flowed together and [the] formations they took. They look very nice, very nice."

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/14584/
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