(Clearwisdom.net) Shen Yun Performing Arts brought traditional Chinese dance and music, myth and legend for the first time to the city of Toledo, Ohio on Friday May 14. The appreciative audience packed the Stranahan Theater, honoring the artists with standing ovations and two curtain calls.
With dazzling costumes, Western and Chinese classical music and instruments, and a state-of-the-art backdrop, the New York-based Shen Yun displays the best of China's traditional arts. Audience reaction was enthusiastic.
State Representative Edna Brown came to the performance on Friday evening and was delighted she did. "It was a lovely, lovely show. And I tell you, it was such a beautiful way to spend an evening--the costumes, ah!
State Representative Edna Brown of the 48th District is currently serving her fourth elected term
"The vocalists, the dancing, the whole evening was just fantastic. I'm so glad I decided to come. It was much more than what I expected. It was truly enjoyable," the Representative said.
Rep. Brown was deeply moved by the performances and said that the Shen Yun artists had brought something special to Ohio. She said: "I am looking forward to seeing them again and witnessing what I saw here tonight, again. It was gorgeous costumes, beautiful dancers, lovely voices. Just a wonderful, wonderful evening."
She particularly enjoyed the vocal performances in the show, saying, "It was all very, very great-fantastic. But the last singer-oh! What a dynamic voice! ... It was really fantastic."
Rep. Brown was referring to soprano Ms. Haolan Geng who received a standing ovation and a call for an encore for her performance of Reaching the Other Shore, which according to the program, opens with the words:
"Centuries have we waited
Millennia have we longed
Divine Beings now walk among men
Creation joyously follows along"
"Extraordinarily Beautiful!" says U.S. Representative
Marcy Kaptur, a US Representative for the 9th district, Ohio, said she thought Shen Yun Performing Arts was "extraordinarily beautiful" after seeing the dance company's show in Toledo.
"I thought it was extraordinarily beautiful and we are very pleased," she said. "We don't have the largest Asian American community in America but we are very, very honored by them coming here from New York."
Marcy Kaptur, US Representative for the 9th district, Ohio
Congresswoman Kaptur sent a welcome letter in the weeks leading up to the performance, in which she wrote, "Our community is honored to have been chosen to be treated to this majestic performance.
"Shen Yun brings together all of the arts in a unique and moving experience of all the senses."
City Councilor: 'It is an Honor for Me to be Here'
During Shen Yun Performing Arts' first visit to Toledo, Ohio on Friday, May 14, Toledo City Councilor D. Michael Collins applauded the show at a VIP reception, calling it a great experience for Toledo.
"Know that you are truly a jewel coming to our city and allowing us to have this experience, an experience which will make us all better because of your presence," he said. "It is a privilege, and it is an honor for me to be here."
"It gave us the opportunity to see the beauty, the culture, the dignity, and the pride of the peoples who should not be enduring a communistic situation where their freedoms are compromised. The atrocities that have been committed in China over the past ten years are truthfully an embarrassment to the Western world because we've been silent, and silent we should not be."
Mr. Collins commented specifically on the Chinese regime's past 11 years of persecution of Falun Dafa, a cultivation practice rooted in Chinese culture, which was depicted in two dances in Shen Yun's show.
"There is nothing wrong with the theories and the principles of compassion, forbearance, and truthfulness," he said. "Don't stifle them. This is a culture that has a history, a history that creates a diversity that makes all mankind better."
Mr. Collins sponsored a resolution that the Toledo City Council passed in February, which demonstrates how significant the Toledo City Council believes the show to be.
The resolution said that Shen Yun "brings Asia's celebrated life to the stage."
It emphasized that the Shen Yun International Company Orchestra is "the world's only [orchestra] whose permanent members include players of both Chinese and Western instruments," and encouraged citizens of the Greater Toledo area to attend this "phenomenal showing of history in such a unique manner."
Sources:
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/35464/
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/35468/
http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/35473/
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Category: Shen Yun Performing Arts
