(Clearwisdom.net) Renowned opera director Dr. Irving Guttman called Shen Yun Performing Arts' opening show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Thursday night, March 25, 2010, a "feast for the eyes."
A member of the Order of Canada and a member of the Canada Arts Council advisory committee, Dr. Guttman was active in the development of opera in Eastern Canada in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1960 he was instrumental in creating the Vancouver Opera. He went on to help launch three other opera companies in Western Canada. As a result he has become affectionately known as the father of opera in Western Canada.
Dr. Guttman said, "I think it's wonderful. It's a magnificent
show--spectacular. The imagination behind it and the creativity is
incredible. The whole presentation was quite unique. And the
settings, and the colour combinations--it was a feast for the eyes.
The patterns were so wonderful, how they created such wonderful
patterns of movement."
The mythology, the history, and the legends depicted in the show
were "expressed so beautifully in the dancing," he added. "You
could feel the history that once upon a time, long, long ago, these
people, these were true stories, maybe. It's wonderful to be able
to see that today."
"They tell the stories with movement and that's very exciting.
Instead of just dancing and dancing--it's nice, but that's not what
this is about. This is all about keeping the culture alive through
movement and dance, and that's what is not only exciting, but it's
so important that the people in the audience feel this culture,
this ancient culture through the movement and the excitement of the
dancing. Which is fantastic, because not every culture can portray
in dance."
Dr. Guttman, who also saw the show last year, said he was "going
to phone different friends that must come to see this." "I enjoyed
it so much last year and I looked forward to coming tonight very
much. It's made a big impression on me and my friends and it's
wonderful to experience such a wonderful evening."
Film producer: "It is so poetic."
Treenee Lopez at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
"It is so poetic," said Ms. Treenee Lopez, a film producer and
the president of Trenz Media. Ms. Lopez thoroughly enjoyed the
entire show. "I am so impressed with the colours, with the
costumes, with the performers--everybody. I could not believe how
they were floating--they floated--I don't know how they did
that."
"But of course they had a lot of practice and I understand it is a
lot of work," she added. "But what really impressed me most was
actually the singers."
Although the songs are composed and sung in Chinese, Ms. Lopez said
the translators did a good job with "the meaning and the wordings
that they use." She described getting the feeling that there is
more to life beyond the material.
"You know you have to go in the right direction. You know there is
somebody going to be there looking after us, you know somebody who
is guiding us. You know you have to have that guidance in your
life."
Ms. Lopez said she was amazed at how much she could understand from
the artistic performances of Shen Yun. "They did a lot of movement
that can be expressed...and they were able to express it. To me I
sort of understand them--you know what's going on. So, that's why I
was so impressed."
A Precious Evening Out for Mother and Daughter
Laura Mackenrot is blind, but that did not stop her from
enjoying the show with her mother on Thursday night. "I quite
enjoyed the sounds of the drums and the Asian instruments. There
was some drumming and a bit of singing and various different
instruments combining Western and the Asian," she said.
Laura's mother Paulette Mackenrot said, "I thought it would be
great for her, because of the sounds. I knew the sounds were going
to be tremendous--having those big drums and the instrumentals and
the singing; the different sounds and the musical instruments are
quite different. They are beautiful. They are very rich. And of
course they had some very lovely tenors and singers. In fact they
were quite lovely, and so, for her it was quite rich."
Laura is having neck surgery next week, so tonight's theatre
experience was an important event for her as she will not be able
to go out for another 5 months. Paulette has had a deep love for
dancing and theatre since she was a child. As a girl she danced
ballet. Later she learned myriad forms of dance, including tango
and ballroom, dancing approximately three times a week throughout
her life.
Laura jokes that classical Chinese dance will probably be her
mother's next choice. "The dancers were really incredible,"
Paulette said. "I thought it was fabulous. You know the performers
were incredible. The costumes are outstanding. The backdrops are
wonderful--they really are something. And of course the show comes
with words. You know, there is a message to it."
Laura Mackenrot with her mother, Paulette, at Shen Yun in Vancouver on Thursday night.
Laura says the message is about the divine, which is the meaning
of the name Shen Yun.
Some of the dances in Shen Yun portray stories from ancient Chinese
culture, and Paulette observed that the stories depict through
dance "how the Buddha presents in the worldly life."
"And in the stories the Buddha is coming into the light to [offer]
aid," she adds. "I have never seen anything like that before."
Paulette said she was planning to share with her daughter more
about the show on the way home. "I would like to tell Laura in the
car now as we go home about what it is about."
Laura has been blind for only 3 years and has a full memory of
pictures to draw from. She says her familiarity with Chinese
culture, and her Chinese friends, helped her visualize what was
happening on stage. "I am aware of a lot of cultural things, so I
kind of try to make the pictures of dancers and make it go around
and do something in my head and I am dreaming."
Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company will be performing four more shows at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on March 26-28.
Source:
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32141/
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Category: Shen Yun Performing Arts
