“It was very captivating. I enjoyed the culture, the history lesson, and the talent,” Mr. Butorac said.
“It was so beautiful,” Ms. Goolsby chimed in.
Its orchestra is the first in the world to permanently combine the best of Eastern and Western musical traditions. Using a Western orchestra as a foundation, the original compositions feature traditional Chinese melodies and instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and pipa, an ancient lute.
“I love music, and I love it, and I enjoy it,” Mr. Butorac added. “It was just wonderful. I would listen to them. The show was absolutely great. I thought it was very interesting how they broke down each story.”
He found the dances both thought-provoking and inspiring.
They were “spot on with the timing. Just every aspect of it, everything from their movements—[without any spoken dialogue], you know what they were saying through their movements, their expressions. It was just wonderful.”
The artists are masters of classical Chinese dance, an ancient and highly expressive art form dating back thousands of years. Unlike the modern, military-influenced styles often seen in China today, Shen Yun preserves and performs this tradition in its most authentic form, as it was originally passed down through generations.
Mr. Butorac was wowed by the dancers’ skill and talent.
“Wonderful. … I’ve been to operas before, and I’ve been to plays before, but I’ve never seen that many people on stage at once. [They were] in tune and in step and in line. It was just phenomenal.”
The show “spoke to my heart and it made me want to come back again. It really did.”
