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Mom and I went to see Shen Yun last night, as I'd bought her tickets for her Christmas present. It was pretty neat, and not what I'd expected!
It's a classical Chinese dance troupe based out of New York; their website is here: http://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/
I don't know why, but I was actually expecting more of an acrobatics slant, like I've seen from Chinese troupes on TV before. Yes, I know, I didn't research. But it was more like an acrobatic ballet. And we both truly enjoyed it! The costumes, especially the ladies', were beautiful, so colorful, flowy, and sparkly. I love sparkly and flowy dressed (they remind me of being a young girl and designing these sorts of dresses with crayons).
The ladies have these lovely, distinctive movements that I guess are typical of classical Chinese dance and that set it apart from western ballet. Like, they would move their feet so fast or shuffle so that they looked like they were floating across the floor. Their posture was precise and yet incredibly graceful.
The men in the troupe got to do a little more acting along with their dancing, and told several stories. One was a Journey to the West-themed story with Pig and Monkey fighting a river ogre who had stolen a village girl; thankfully, the priest and the Merciful Goddess appeared just in time to defeat the ogre and rescue the girl. :) They also told some political stories about the persecution of Dafa in China. I do wish the political stuff hadn't all been about Dafa religion, since it gave the entire performance a whiff of propaganda, but it wasn't too overwhelming.
There were also a couple of singing performances in Chinese, a tenor, a baritone and soprano.
If you get the chance to see one of their shows, I recommend it!
It's a classical Chinese dance troupe based out of New York; their website is here: http://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/
I don't know why, but I was actually expecting more of an acrobatics slant, like I've seen from Chinese troupes on TV before. Yes, I know, I didn't research. But it was more like an acrobatic ballet. And we both truly enjoyed it! The costumes, especially the ladies', were beautiful, so colorful, flowy, and sparkly. I love sparkly and flowy dressed (they remind me of being a young girl and designing these sorts of dresses with crayons).
The ladies have these lovely, distinctive movements that I guess are typical of classical Chinese dance and that set it apart from western ballet. Like, they would move their feet so fast or shuffle so that they looked like they were floating across the floor. Their posture was precise and yet incredibly graceful.
The men in the troupe got to do a little more acting along with their dancing, and told several stories. One was a Journey to the West-themed story with Pig and Monkey fighting a river ogre who had stolen a village girl; thankfully, the priest and the Merciful Goddess appeared just in time to defeat the ogre and rescue the girl. :) They also told some political stories about the persecution of Dafa in China. I do wish the political stuff hadn't all been about Dafa religion, since it gave the entire performance a whiff of propaganda, but it wasn't too overwhelming.
There were also a couple of singing performances in Chinese, a tenor, a baritone and soprano.
If you get the chance to see one of their shows, I recommend it!
