“The energy that’s in this whole dance and this performance is much more than just what meets the eye,” he said. “Behind it, there’s the energy, the flow, of what I suppose you can call chi or prana in India.
“The energy force that’s being expressed here in a beautiful way, that goes much, much deeper than what you just see in the dance because this is like a cosmic dance as far as I’m concerned.”
Mr. Hamilton-Parker described the performance as “energizing.”
“I couldn’t take my eyes off it for a moment. You know, normally when one watches a performance of some sort, sooner or later, you start to feel a bit tired with it. But no, it energizes you.
“And the actual energy of the dancers, the visual feast of the beautiful choices of colors, the clever use of a background that’s animated and becomes part of the show, absolutely amazing. So it’s captivating on so many levels, both as entertainment and as a subtle spiritual message,” he said.
China’s history is filled with legends of people becoming enlightened or obtaining the Tao through self-cultivation—an ancient tradition of cultivating one’s moral character.
“The stories of working towards enlightenment and awakening and the divine within people, I thought it was a lovely way of putting it. And I wish each culture of the world could find its heart like that. China needs to find its heart like that. China needs to be able to find its past inspiration that we can find from its history. And so too, here in the West, and so too, in each country. We need to get back to the roots of what makes us a people. And that often comes through art, and through art, we reach out to spirituality,” he said.
“I feel we are on the threshold of a new era. They say, 'The darkness comes before the dawn.' And my feeling is that we have been through a very dark age of deep materialism,” Mr. Hamilton-Parker said.
“When the great age of enlightenment comes, it doesn’t come as a great beaming light. It comes with lots of little lights waking up one at a time around the world. And this is one of those lights that reaches many people.
“I feel that this is part of that process of awakening.”
To the dancers, Mr. Hamilton-Parker had this message: “Absolutely beautifully done. That’s more than just art, that's spirit.”
Shen Yun will continue its UK tour in Northampton on Feb. 17 and 18, with two more cities to follow later this month.
