TAINAN, Taiwan—On the highest recommendation of his friends, Cheng Chun-hsiung, a well-known bronze sculptor in Taiwan, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company’s third performance at Tainan Municipal Cultural Center on the afternoon of March 16.
“Shen Yun creates a perfect combination of Chinese traditional dance and technology,” Mr. Cheng said. “It is actually a combination of all arts. Not only dance, but also fine arts, music, sculpture, literature … and many other artistic components. And movies as well!” he added.
Mr. Cheng said that he was moved by all programs. As for his future artistic creation, he said: “I was definitely inspired! … Shen Yun’s dancing has deeply impressed in my brain.” He listed several elements in Shen Yun that he was particularly attracted to: “Dancing, including the style, beauty of movements, and the skills of the actors. I think their members are all the best ones!”
“Most importantly,” he said, “is Shen Yun’s chromatics. It’s very great! The colors of the costumes are matched excellently. The program of Phoenix Fairies, for example, had dark blue with orange colors. It was so beautiful! The actors formed the shape of phoenix’s heads when they raised their arms. It gave people exactly that kind of feeling.” Mr. Cheng’s works are widely collected, many of which are phoenix. “Phoenix is my favorite. It’s a divine bird,” he said.
“Shen Yun’s music combines Chinese and Western [instruments],” said Mr. Cheng. He especially mentioned the Western conductor. “It’s not easy for him.” He explained that the Western conductor has to understand Chinese culture so that he can match the music with the dance in such perfection.
“I really admire Shen Yun, with so many members, approximately 70-80, and they are so professional!” Mr. Cheng continued. “There must be many excellent choreographers, instructors behind them. This is a very successful company. It is worth learning for Taiwanese dance and music groups.”
“Shen Yun is the top of the world!” He said, “On the level of representing the profundity of the Chinese culture, Shen Yun is TOP! TOP!” He especially repeated the last words in English.
“I am grateful to have this chance [to see Shen Yun] today. I will come next time and recommend my friends to come together!”
Cheng Chun-hsiung is a famous bronze sculptor in Taiwan. His works are widely collected. Much of his creation is the phoenix, a divine bird, symbolizing the spirit of dignity and freedom.
Shen Yun Turns ‘Moments Into Eternity’
For the second consecutive night, the city of Tainan was buzzing with excitement as Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company again took the stage to the delight of a sold-out audience. Zheng Xingcun, a writer and artist in the field of literature, sculpture and painting, has the upmost appreciation for the inner beauty and passion of the performance, as he repeatedly said, “Shen Yun is the best! Bravo Shen Yun!”
Sharing that he had been to many artistic performances, but none had made him feel more amazed than Shen Yun, Mr. Zheng said: “First of all, I greatly appreciate the professionalism and dedication of the performers. I think it is a privilege to see it once in this lifetime. And they were so passionate about what they were doing. It was simply awesome.”
Moreover, Mr. Zheng also highly touted the animated background and the orchestra, as it was such a visual and auditory feast. He acclaimed: “It was a combination of humanity and technology, with perfect coordination.
“At first, I didn’t know there was a live orchestra. When I saw the Monkey King smash the water with his magical staff and the water splashed from the surface, I was stunned. How could the timing of the sound effect be such perfection! [The backdrop] was so unique. That scene was absolutely wonderful.”
Later, Mr. Zheng realized that “there was a live orchestra, and the musicians were so professional that it’s just incredible. It was astounding. I was deeply touched.” With a huge smile on his face, Mr. Zheng said: “This was truly phenomenal. I will definitely come next time. I will probably come tomorrow and enjoy the performance again.”
Learning Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance from the Performers
Mr. Zheng explained how he felt passion as well as compassion shown among the performers. “If there weren’t ‘truthfulness,’ [the performance] could not be put together.” He said: “I used to think that truthfulness, compassion and beauty were the peak of all realms … Today, Falun Gong talks about truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, and makes me realize it should take great effort to follow the principle of forbearance. It is easy to talk about forbearance, but difficult to put it into practice.”
“If one can reach the state of absolute forbearance,” he explicated further, “there wouldn’t be any distance among people.”
“If you don’t cultivate forbearance and everybody simply does everything at will, the world would be chaotic,” said Mr. Zheng. He thought that nowadays, people are indifferent. They do not respect others, and have very little self-control. “The principle of forbearance starts with restraining oneself … Then, we would have a truly peaceful world. It may seem that this comes naturally. But it all starts from the principle of ‘forbearance.’ Indeed, forbearance is very painful; [in Chinese character], it is [combined with] a knife to a heart. You may say to yourself that I must be forbearing. Yet, some words can enrage you all of sudden. So Falun Gong talks about ‘truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.’ This is not easy. Forbearance starts from the heart and it comes through practice in real life.”
Mr. Zheng said that he saw the principle of “forbearance” in the Shen Yun performance. Thus, he was all respectful and said, “I want to learn from Shen Yun, and learn the principle of forbearance.”
Moments Standing Still in Shen Yun
Mr. Zheng said that he experienced what “time standing still” and “moments become eternity” were tonight. “Life is like a one-way train [journey]. We have to reach the other end of life. However, it is not the end, but a beginning, as life is eternal.” He explained: “When watching every single program of Shen Yun, I realized what it elaborated was turning moments into eternity.” He said Shen Yun reminded him to “seize the day.”
Finally, Mr. Zheng said in a passionate tone, “Shen Yun is a world-class performance. I must pay tribute to all the performers. I want to bow 90 degrees to them. Thank all the Shen Yun performers for treating me to such a magnificent and joyful evening. Truly thank them! I will pass on the good word.”
Mr. Zheng has his own studio where he devotes most of his time to writing poems, carving sculptures and painting.
Read original Chinese articles. [1] [2]
Reporting by Li Fangru, Sophie Chiu, Zhu Lili and Frank Fang.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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