New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts performed to a sold-out house at the Dominion Theatre in London on Feb. 20.
Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance and music company, is performing in London as part of its 20-country 2018 world tour.
Mark Taylor, a senior partner for Dorsey & Whitney law firm in London, said he was particularly impressed by the dancers’ skill.
“I was just knocked sideways by it. I thought it was wonderful. And I was just saying that the lightness of the dancers, and the way that the women just turn somersaults, was just magical, it was like seeing a feather turning,” Taylor said.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive China’s traditional culture, which has been under attack since the communist came to power in 1949.
Because traditional culture was steeped in the religions of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, reverence for the divine is a central theme in Shen Yun dances and lyrics.
“They’re lyrics that I think people of any belief or faith, any sense of spirituality can identify with,” said Benedict Rogers, the deputy chairman for the British Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission. “I think those lyrics symbolize what’s really important in life, which is finding meaning, direction, and faith and hope in life.”
“At the end of the day, we saw what China is about,” said Robert Vasquez, a lawyer for the British royal family.
In addition to Classical Chinese dance, Shen Yun performs a series of ethnic dances that show the diversity across China. Images projected on a backdrop that interact with the dancers take the audience to their homelands.
“I suppose I was sort of transported to some of the landscapes that we’d seen in the film, those beautiful mountains and the sunsets. It was just a wonderful moment, ” Taylor added. “I thought it was a wonderful combination of multimedia dance and music, and you know the whole thing just came together, just as a unified whole. Yes, it was an all-embracing experience.”
NTD News, London
