Shen Yun Performing Arts arrived in the German city of Duisburg—for a performance at the Theater am Marientor on April 23. The company’s display of classical Chinese dance and live orchestra music was met with standing ovations, and the artists received three curtain calls.
David Spari, a management consultant, said, “I find the whole performance very, very nice. The concert, the music concert particularly moved me. All the dancing too, of course. I think it’s so beautiful.”
“Fantastic. The colors are super, the costumes, a dream. The color combinations too were simply outstanding,” said Benjamin Breuer, the owner of PIXEL2SEE.
Heike Weber, a saxophonist, said, “I have to say, the dancers are fantastic, very colorful, the movements—so well coordinated. I can only say that I’ve never seen anything like it. And I think it’s great that we’ve come here.”
“It was really, really beautiful. I was thrilled and I thought it was really nice to get to know the culture and see it. It was really wonderful,” said Antonia Rudinski, a ballet dancer.
“A dreamlike world of colors and incredible acrobatics. I’m totally surprised and very impressed. Very beautiful,” said Hans Holtmann, the CEO of Solonic International.
Thanks to a unique patented invention, Shen Yun performers travel back and forth between the stage and the animated backdrop. This effect allows locations or moments from China’s 5,000 years of history to be brought to life on stage.
“I thought it was very, very nice that the background was like a short movie, and how the artists jumped behind the stage, for example. And after that they could be seen in the movie,” said Ms. Rudinski.
“But this interplay between film and actual stage work, I think it’s a great idea,” said Mr. Holtmann.
“It was well presented. Also cleverly done with the movie in the background,” said Stefan Fuchs, the director of Regulation and AML of Net-Digital. “You can definitely tell that there’s a lot of discipline, hard work, and attention to detail behind the scenes. And it’s definitely rewarded by a great performance.”
“The dancers, the whole choreography, if you pay attention to the details, it’s just fantastically done. And there’s a lot of work, a lot of effort behind it and it’s really excellent. I like it very much,” said Mr. Breuer.
Mr. Holtmann said, “I was simply impressed by the grace, the synchronicity, and the real dancing ability behind it all.”
Ms. Rudinski said, “It was just beautiful. All of them were in sync. And one can also tell that a lot, a lot of work went into it. And the beaming faces on stage were so beautiful.”
Ancient Chinese culture finds its roots in moral principals and faith in the Divine.
All that changed after communists took power in China in 1949, and launched a series of campaigns to destroy what they called “the four olds”: old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits.
Shen Yun was established in New York in 2006 with the goal of reviving traditional Chinese culture from before that time.
“To preserve the values that I believe correspond to human nature, these virtues that we are talking about: compassion and truthfulness and tolerance. I think that’s important. I know they’re often under attack, and to be aware of that through shows like this and to remind people of it, is very good,” said Mr. Spari.
Martin Papp, the owner of UpToDate IT, said, “Tradition should be preserved, should be lived. And it would be fatal to just let it fade. That’s a piece of culture and it’s very, very important that you continue to present it.”
“I think there was also a brief moment where it was presented in writing that there are dangers through atheism, that this does not necessarily correspond to the nature of man. And that there is a God, and that has meaning for us. And that perhaps we have to do a lot in many different aspects to clean up this world from communism and from the damage that has been caused by communism throughout history,” said Mr. Spari. “I want to thank [Shen Yun] for this performance. It’s very rare that you can see something like this here. Of course, it’s become more common in recent years, but for me personally this was the first time [seeing Shen Yun] and I would encourage them to continue to spread it all over the world, because we need it. The culture is going downhill more and more, and I think something like this helps to revitalize it.”
“I would recommend that everyone take part in this. It’s really worth it. This is an investment that will definitely last. Also, a piece of tradition, which you can take with you, as I mentioned earlier. In any case, both thumbs up, I recommend it,” said Mr. Papp.
NTD News, Duisburg, Germany
