(Clearwisdom.net) ST. LOUIS--Mr. Hardley-Ives, a university professor who has spent two years in Taiwan, along with his Taiwanese wife, and 14-year-old son braved the cold to see the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at Lindenwood's J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts on Saturday, February 13, 2010.
The family traveled to St. Louis from Springfield, Illinois, despite the show having been presented in their area, so that they and their family could enjoy the Shen Yun artists together.
"For Chinese New Year, my mother treated our family to come and see it here in St. Louis. We thought we might see it in Springfield, where it performed a few days ago. But we had the opportunity to come down here to see it with the family on Chinese New Year. I thought that was very special," Mr. Hardley-Ives said.
Mr. Hardley-Ives and his son
The evening was a success with the audience applauding the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts several times during some of the acts. The evening ended with a standing ovation and curtain call.
Touching on Chinese traditions, Mr. Hardley-Ives said, "I was impressed by the way it took... modern issues and made a dance out of that."
"It was interesting to see the arts portraying more of an ideal of religious freedom, and persecution of a people based on their conscience. That was surprising and new to me," he added.
Speaking of Shen Yun's mission of presenting the true Chinese cultural heritage from past to present, he said, "The Shen Yun performers did that very successfully."
Throughout the show, a 3-D backdrop augmented what was seen on the stage with scenes of China. "I've never seen it before where the animated projection on the back interacted with the people dancing in front. That was a new thing that I was impressed by," he said.
One could overhear people talking in the audience about the orchestra's use of Eastern and Western instruments. Mr. Hardley-Ives said, "I liked the music very much. I've always liked Chinese music."
Turning the conversation to the erhu, a Chinese two-stringed instrument, he said, "I liked the erhu solo very much... As I was watching her play the erhu, I reflected on how much expression she can get out of the two strings... That was impressive to me--also the way she handled the bow. The bow didn't move energetically or vigorously. And there was more of the expression coming from her fingers on the strings."
Mr. Hardley-Ives said he liked having the lyrics projected on the backdrop behind a singer, "We could understand what was going on. I haven't seen that before. Sometimes I close my eyes when I listen to music, but then because the lyrics were being projected, I had to keep them open to see what the song was about."
He said he hoped that more Americans would see a Shen Yun performance, "I think more Americans should see it because Americans need to understand the different cultures represented in our country, and Chinese culture is part of American culture now."
"I'm very thankful that they have this opportunity and they brought it to Springfield, Illinois, and here in St. Louis. I'm glad that this sort of art goes on. I wish there was more of it," he said.
There was still a little time before the family headed home for the young son to share his thoughts, "Honestly, I thought that it was a great show. It showed a lot of the classical dances... I especially enjoyed the lantern dance. It's a good show--really."
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Category: Shen Yun Performing Arts
