NEW YORK—The show billed to be “leaving millions in awe,” impressed musician and dance team Henry and Nicole Boote in New York Sunday. The Bootes attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at Radio City Music Hall for the celebration of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 14.
The curtain call at the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at Radio City Music Hall on Feb. 14, commencing the Year of the Tiger.
“I love it,” Mr. Boote said at intermission. “The whole thing is just amazing. It’s really beautiful.”
Mr. Boote is a music teacher and also plays in his own band.
“I think the orchestra is very good. The orchestra [music was] very well performed,” he said. “It’s typical in a lot of the classical sound that they use in Chinese music… the tuning and fifths… it’s beautiful. It’s really lovely.”
The Shen Yun Performing Arts Orchestra brings together two of the world’s great classical music traditions, Chinese and Western, in a masterful fusion. With Western instruments as its base, the orchestra brings out Chinese musical flair by means of a variety of Chinese instruments.
All of the music the 40-plus member orchestra plays is original and composed specifically for each dance piece.
One performance Mr. Boote described as particularly moving is called “Nothing Can Block the Divine Path.” In this dance, a mother and daughter are practicing Falun Dafa spiritual exercises in a park in China and are discovered by police.
The mother is dragged to a detention center where she pays the ultimate price for trying to protect her daughter. The tragedy does not go unnoticed, however, as the heavens are watching, says Shen Yun’s website.
“I thought it was very moving,” Mr. Boote said. “I thought that was beautiful.”
The performances portraying Tibetan culture also left an impression on him. Dance in traditional Tibet, harmonious in form and energy, was as much a part of daily life as herding, hunting, or devotional prayers.
“It’s very colorful. The dancing is unbelievable,” he said.
Mr. Boote enjoyed the way Shen Yun used the Radio City stage to its fullest extent during this Chinese New Year extravaganza. “The lighting and costuming was absolutely phenomenal,” he enthused.
“They seem to be enjoying themselves, which is nice to see in a company.”
Mrs. Boote, a former dancer in tap, jazz, and ballet said the classical Chinese dance was beautiful. “It’s appealing to all ages because of the drama element in some of the pieces,” she continued.
Even while sitting very near to the orchestra, she said she was checking to see if some of Shen Yun’s instrumental solos were truly live, “because they’re so accomplished.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company celebrated the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sunday. Shen Yun will perform four more shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York Sunday Feb. 14 and Saturday Feb. 20 through Sunday Feb. 21.
http://www.shenzhoufilm.com/sz/en/2010/02/16/a10119.html 2010-2-16 08:27