For two hours, dancers of Shen Yun Performing Arts enthrall with classical Chinese dance and stories that traverse 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. Geneva audience members watched the performance on Feb. 28, and were mesmerized by the level of skill displayed by the dancers.
“And I am lucky enough to be here tonight, to see such a culture with such traditions as part of history, it is something wonderful, something exceptional,” said Samantha Filipinetti, a designer. “The color codes are incredible, the choreography is spectacular, and to know that a country can exist through something as classical and timeless, it is fantastic. It gives me goosebumps, quite simply, it’s visual, it’s choreographically exceptional, it’s the whole history of a country, that we tend to actually squander.”
“Absolutely extraordinary,” said Marina Benaki, a Geneva Celebrity. “With a beautiful stage direction and costumes and really something I’ve never seen before, something unforgettable. A great energy, I loved it, everything, loved it.”
“Well, I find it absolutely impressive in terms of beauty, aesthetics, agility, obviously, talent and speed. Artists are extremely imbued with what they do and spiritual emotion,” said Léa de Belgique, Princess Léa of Belgium. “It does indeed give you a lot of energy and I hope we will keep it over the coming weeks, because they give you a lot of positive energy.”
According to its website, the company’s aim is to uplift and inspire. The audience thought Shen Yun achieved that, and described the performance as enlightening and engaging.
“I really liked the show, it is graceful, all these dancers, the ladies are beautiful, and the men are [manly], it’s great,” said Olivier de Beaumont, member of a French noble family. “Now I am very reassured, very happy, very relaxed, I feel lighter maybe, I arrived here with all the worries of life, like that, on my shoulders and now, I’ve forgotten everything. Thank you Shen Yun.”
“It goes beyond the visual and the aesthetics, it’s complete, I think there’s an extremely philosophical and meditative foundation. I think it feels good for the soul and we all need it,” said Filipinetti. “We live in a difficult, cruel world where we have forgotten everything that has happened, our whole history and when we see that, we think it is soothing for the soul.”
NTD News, Geneva, Switzerland
