Shen Yun’s Divinely Magical Chinese Dance Performed at the Cobb Centre
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
By Dee Corley.
One of the most valued traits that Atlanta has is the vast selection of things to do and places to go. Anywhere you look entertainment is never far away, and it can be found in any price range from free to the sky’s the limit. Places to go as individuals, as a group or as a family, it can all be found here in Atlanta. Shen Yun Divine Performing Arts Chinese Dance was one of those options that arrived in Atlanta just for the weekend of the 15th through the 17th of January at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
Each piece of Classical music performed in the show is composed and performed by the Shen Yun Performing Arts Orchestra uniquely for a specific dance. The base instruments used by the orchestra are western and are accentuated by traditional Chinese instruments, intertwining both western and Chinese culture into the music.
Vividly colorful processions of dancers arrived on stage, perfectly timed and synchronized as they performed challenging and skillful folk dances. It was explained to the audience that gymnastics evolved from traditional Chinese dance. Stories of old come to life in these authentic and classical Chinese dances dating back a hundred years, and are performed true to historic form and with precision by the Shen Yun Performing Arts company. Shen Yun is the only company to hail this determination to remain true to Chinese heritage in their choreography.
The costumes capture the magnificent splendor of China’s history and display it within slightly updated designs, bursting with vibrant color and brilliance, all moving gracefully and powerfully to the rhythm of drumbeats. Virtually all of the ladies sleeves had flowing banner typed extensions which they waved in unison to the beating drums and the supporting orchestra.
The stories these dances are based upon come right out of China’s history. Oppression by the Red Guard was depicted in a couple of the routines. One story told of a good hearted man who was tortured and killed for teaching what he believed. The story ended as his spirit was taken away to the heavens. Although some are politically themed, these are stories whose virtues are highly honored in the Chinese culture and continue to be today. Each dance is a representation of a different ethnicity within China. Manchurian and Tebetan dances were just a couple of examples of the regions represented in the routines, but seemed to be the most colorfully performed of the night. One of the routines utilized brightly colored handkerchiefs that were impressively manipulated by the dancers, twirled on a finger or tossed in the air and recovered like a boomerang.
As the dancers took a break and changed for the next piece a solo performance took their place. Vocalists poured out their passions and could take you with them on spiritual journeys accompanied by piano. Musicians whose specialty is the two-stringed erhu played breathtakingly. This is an ancient type of violin originally designed for use within an orchestra but later updated for solo use. It can be made to sound much like the American banjo, or to sing sweetly like the wind whistling a lullaby.
The show wouldn’t be complete without the magnificent backdrops. Some digital, some painted, all are manually manipulated in sync with each step of the performance. Beautiful paintings from Chinese culture are used in the backdrop in every scene. Images of the spirits of ancestors appearing in the distance in the backdrop in one scene grew ever closer and finally appeared in the flesh on stage with just the right timing of the emerging dancers, as they came to carry away the souls of dead.
This was a magical show, not only entertaining but quite enlightening to the western audience. I would recommend it to anyone at its next appearance.
Tags: Atlanta, ballet, dance, performing arts
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