Shen Yun Returns to California
This January, the breathtaking performance, “Shen Yun,” is returning to theatres across California. Shen Yun will make its way from San Francisco in Northern California, down to Southern California—Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.
Shen Yun Performing Arts was established in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of Chinese culture and heritage—largely destroyed by more than 60 years of Communist rule in China—and sharing it with the world. The company began with 90 artists on its first tour in 2007, and has been growing ever since.
Shen Yun, literally translating to, “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” shares with its audience, “the deeper spiritual core of the ancient culture—values of benevolence, honor, propriety, wisdom, sincerity, and a reverence for the gods and the heavens.”
The Shen Yun company shows the audience the unique system of classical Chinese dance, which is still widely unfamiliar to the West. Much like ballet, classical Chinese dance is one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world. It is composed of three main parts: bearing; form; and technical skill. Dancers convey powerful expressions and deep emotions through beautiful movements and advanced tumbling techniques, such as flips, spins, and high-flying jumps. Alongside this classical dance system, Shen Yun also includes ethnic and folk dances, taken from over 20 dynasties and 50 ethnic groups.
While Shen Yun embodies the ancient culture of China, it also creates an alchemical blend of classical Chinese dance with updated, unique movements, music, costumes, and stage sets. For instance, Shen Yun integrates the very different sounds and music of the East and West. Shen Yun’s music—with truly one-of-a kind, original compositions, recreated each year—blends ancient Chinese instruments such as the erhu (a two-stringed bowed, alto instrument), the dizi (the bamboo flute), the pipa (a four-stringed instrument), and the suona (a double-reed woodwind), with the energy and grandeur of a Western orchestra.
Shen Yun performances convey each of China’s individual dynasties through their unique adornments. Hundreds of original, handmade costumes are recreated for each new season of Shun Yen, expressing the beauty of China’s heritage and cultures. The colorful garments span across all of China’s regions, dynasties, and ethnicities, “from the imperial dragon robes and cloud capes to ornate headdresses and vestments, from the warriors’ helmet and armor to the celestial maidens’ long silky sleeves, from the traditional Han clothing to the ethnic attire of the Manchurians, Tibetans, and Mongolians.”
Using modern lighting and stage settings to create animated backdrops, Shun Yen transports audiences to different times and places throughout China’s 5,000-year civilization. With this alchemical result of the ancient blended with the modern, performances take audiences on a magical journey, “from the snow-capped Himalayas to tropical lake-filled regions, from the legends of the culture’s creation through different dynasties to the present day, from the highest heavens down to the dusty plateaus of the Middle Kingdom.”
Millions worldwide have seen Shen Yun and have described it as nothing less than spectacular. This January, join them in experiencing all that Shen Yun has to offer.Shen Yun will be in California Jan. 3-8 in San Francisco, Jan. 11-12 in Orange County, Jan.13-14 in Los Angeles, and Jan. 19-22 in San Diego. For more information on Shen Yun and its touring schedule, please visit www.shenyun2012.com. You can purchase tickets at www.ticketingbox.com or by calling 1.888.974.3698. —SN
