On the evening of Jan 21, Shen Yun concluded a series of 13 sold-out shows at The David H.Koch Theater in New York city.
Even with reserved seating being made available, all performances saw full houses. Tickets to the last show were in especially high demand.
On Jan 21, members of the audience filled the theatre. The fourteenth and final show againsaw full house despite added seating from the presenters.
After the show, the audience praised Shen Yun for its beauty and exquisiteness and further regarded the five millennia of Chinese history with reverence. The values of traditional China and its morals has also left a deep impression in the hearts of the audience.
“I have never seen anything so beautiful.”
Retired elementary school teacher, Michael Mauceri, said, “I’ve never seen such elegance; such precision; such beauty and grace, even amongst the men. It was beautiful, I love it.”
“I’m just so glad I came to see it, and that you took it to this country. I like all of it, I like the costumes. I love the dance. I love the discipline of the dancers. Even the backdrop, the computerised thing, it was like magic. I have never seen anything so beautiful.”
In addition, Mr Mauceri was deeply moved by the storyline of Shen Yun.
“The saddest one was about the guy who got put in prison because of his beliefs,” he said. “But you know what I loved the most? The men with the sword dance and the Mongolian chopstick dance, I loved those two things the best. The women are beautiful. The men have power and grace. The colours are vibrant, they’re beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it! When I look at these people, I think that god gave them the gift to dance, and the gift for the people who are putting the show on.”
A revival of lost traditions
On the evening of Jan 21, renowned guitarist and musician Peter Calo brought his two daughters to watch Shen Yun.
After the show, Mr Calo said, “It was wonderful. The dancing was amazing. The interactive screen that they have was amazing. Presentation was wonderful. It was such a high level of performance. I loved the classical dance. The tumbling that they did in ‘The Fools in the Playground’ was very good.”
“I thought the music was excellent, it was very good. I really enjoyed it,” he added. “The orchestra was amazing, I liked the way that they incorporated the traditional instruments with the Western instruments. I liked the percussion as well.”
When asked about the spirit of the performance, Calo replied, “The spirit was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. It was uplifting; it was a positive message; it gave us a little insight into the Chinese traditions- traditions of what has been lost. So it was nice to see that.”
Experiencing the essence of Shen Yun
Mario Adamo, a maintenance mechanic, praised Shen Yun on its presentation.
“The colours were very vibrant,”said Mr Adamo. “It makes it alive. It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this. I enjoyed the whole performance, it was very interesting. You have the one with the warriors then the one with the girls. Each one was a different story. It was very interesting.”
On the spirituality of the performance, Mr Adamo said that everybody has their own beliefs, and that the essence of spirit is what we feel on the inside.
