(Clearwisdom.net) The New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts was warmly welcomed for two shows at the Sacramento Community Center Theater on July 17 and 18, 2010.
Ms. O'Neal, a veteran news anchor at Sacramento's KFBK radio station.
"This Is Really Spectacular"
In attendance was Kitty O'Neal, a veteran news anchor at Sacramento's KFBK radio station.
Her love and knowledge of Asian culture is the result of her having lived in Hong Kong and having grown up in the Asia Pacific region.
"I've never gotten to see anything on this scale. So this is really spectacular," said Ms. O'Neal.
"I think it's amazing! I felt like I was transported into a different time and a different place, most certainly!"
The dance set that especially caught her attention was "In a Miao Village."
"I especially liked that," she said, "I thought that was very intriguing."
She thoroughly enjoyed the acrobatic elements of the show and thought that the maidens were beautiful. "[They] just seemed to glide across the stage. They're just so elegant and graceful," she said.
"I love how the costumes coordinate in color with the glorious backdrops. And the costumes are thoughtfully used in the dance and the dance is so exquisite and unusual. So I'm really finding it be extraordinary," she said.
Ms. O'Neal, who has covered 16 Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards, said, "I would recommend the show to anybody who has a love of culture and the arts and really getting a flavor of what a different culture--an ancient culture, very beautiful, thoughtful culture--is like."
She continued, "You don't get an opportunity to see it that much. So I think this is a rare opportunity."
TV Station Manager: "The Energy Throughout the Show Was Awesome"
Among the enthusiastic audience members were Ron Hermann and his wife Cathleen.
Also attending the show were Ron Hermann, a TV station manager, and his wife Cathleen, a country singer.
The couple were clearly impressed with the show, with Mr. Hermann saying, "I love the show tonight ... this is a wonderful opportunity to get to know the culture of China, traditions, and dance styles.
"I love the dancing style. I was very impressed by the fact that the artistic part of it--in terms of the gymnastics--is from Chinese tradition dance. It's very educational in terms of that."
"My wife and I both talked about the [great] shape that the dancers were in and the fact that the performance went on for so long. We are getting close to our 50s and just to watch performers give ... such a wonderful show and keep up the energy throughout the show, was awesome."
The Shen Yun vocal soloists caught Mrs. Hermann's attention in a big way: "The soprano, the crispness of her voice, it was just exquisite," she said referring to soprano Min Jiang, who sung "Your Own Choice." "[it was] very good, very classical, and uplifting."
Mr. and Mrs. Hermann found it helpful to see the Chinese lyrics' English translation projected onto the digital backdrops that accompany each performance.
"The wording on the backdrop helped a lot," said Mrs. Hermann. "Because you cannot always pick up what's being said and what's being sung in another language. So the wording in the backdrop, in our language, really helped us to understand, to tie it all together."
Regarding the dance set, "Nothing Can Block the Divine Path," which portrays the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, Mr. Hermann said,
"One of the things I noticed by the artistry was some of the oppression that is still going on in China, and that they were able to bring that out in their art and show how they are basically fighting back through art and it made an impression on me.
"It was emotional. I actually [shed some tears] about it. And it made me think about how our freedom here is so overlooked and that there they are still experiencing so much oppression. [That oppression has been] so behind the curtain for us. It was interesting how they were able to bring that out ... because we are in America, we can express all aspects of oppression and bring it to the forefront."
Concluding, Mr. Hermann said, "We had a good time. It was nice to come out to see some culture other than our own. And it expands our knowledge."
Source:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/39345/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/39343/
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Category: Shen Yun Performing Arts
