(Clearwisdom.net) Renowned opera director Dr. Irving Guttman called Shen Yun Performing Arts' opening show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Thursday night, March 25, 2010, a "feast for the eyes."

A member of the Order of Canada and a member of the Canada Arts Council advisory committee, Dr. Guttman was active in the development of opera in Eastern Canada in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1960 he was instrumental in creating the Vancouver Opera. He went on to help launch three other opera companies in Western Canada. As a result he has become affectionately known as the father of opera in Western Canada.

Dr. Guttman said, "I think it's wonderful. It's a magnificent show--spectacular. The imagination behind it and the creativity is incredible. The whole presentation was quite unique. And the settings, and the colour combinations--it was a feast for the eyes. The patterns were so wonderful, how they created such wonderful patterns of movement."

The mythology, the history, and the legends depicted in the show were "expressed so beautifully in the dancing," he added. "You could feel the history that once upon a time, long, long ago, these people, these were true stories, maybe. It's wonderful to be able to see that today."

"They tell the stories with movement and that's very exciting. Instead of just dancing and dancing--it's nice, but that's not what this is about. This is all about keeping the culture alive through movement and dance, and that's what is not only exciting, but it's so important that the people in the audience feel this culture, this ancient culture through the movement and the excitement of the dancing. Which is fantastic, because not every culture can portray in dance."

Dr. Guttman, who also saw the show last year, said he was "going to phone different friends that must come to see this." "I enjoyed it so much last year and I looked forward to coming tonight very much. It's made a big impression on me and my friends and it's wonderful to experience such a wonderful evening."

Film producer: "It is so poetic."

Treenee Lopez at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre

"It is so poetic," said Ms. Treenee Lopez, a film producer and the president of Trenz Media. Ms. Lopez thoroughly enjoyed the entire show. "I am so impressed with the colours, with the costumes, with the performers--everybody. I could not believe how they were floating--they floated--I don't know how they did that."

"But of course they had a lot of practice and I understand it is a lot of work," she added. "But what really impressed me most was actually the singers."

Although the songs are composed and sung in Chinese, Ms. Lopez said the translators did a good job with "the meaning and the wordings that they use." She described getting the feeling that there is more to life beyond the material.

"You know you have to go in the right direction. You know there is somebody going to be there looking after us, you know somebody who is guiding us. You know you have to have that guidance in your life."

Ms. Lopez said she was amazed at how much she could understand from the artistic performances of Shen Yun. "They did a lot of movement that can be expressed...and they were able to express it. To me I sort of understand them--you know what's going on. So, that's why I was so impressed."

A Precious Evening Out for Mother and Daughter

Laura Mackenrot is blind, but that did not stop her from enjoying the show with her mother on Thursday night. "I quite enjoyed the sounds of the drums and the Asian instruments. There was some drumming and a bit of singing and various different instruments combining Western and the Asian," she said.

Laura's mother Paulette Mackenrot said, "I thought it would be great for her, because of the sounds. I knew the sounds were going to be tremendous--having those big drums and the instrumentals and the singing; the different sounds and the musical instruments are quite different. They are beautiful. They are very rich. And of course they had some very lovely tenors and singers. In fact they were quite lovely, and so, for her it was quite rich."

Laura is having neck surgery next week, so tonight's theatre experience was an important event for her as she will not be able to go out for another 5 months. Paulette has had a deep love for dancing and theatre since she was a child. As a girl she danced ballet. Later she learned myriad forms of dance, including tango and ballroom, dancing approximately three times a week throughout her life.

Laura jokes that classical Chinese dance will probably be her mother's next choice. "The dancers were really incredible," Paulette said. "I thought it was fabulous. You know the performers were incredible. The costumes are outstanding. The backdrops are wonderful--they really are something. And of course the show comes with words. You know, there is a message to it."

Laura Mackenrot with her mother, Paulette, at Shen Yun in Vancouver on Thursday night.

Laura says the message is about the divine, which is the meaning of the name Shen Yun.

Some of the dances in Shen Yun portray stories from ancient Chinese culture, and Paulette observed that the stories depict through dance "how the Buddha presents in the worldly life."

"And in the stories the Buddha is coming into the light to [offer] aid," she adds. "I have never seen anything like that before."

Paulette said she was planning to share with her daughter more about the show on the way home. "I would like to tell Laura in the car now as we go home about what it is about."

Laura has been blind for only 3 years and has a full memory of pictures to draw from. She says her familiarity with Chinese culture, and her Chinese friends, helped her visualize what was happening on stage. "I am aware of a lot of cultural things, so I kind of try to make the pictures of dancers and make it go around and do something in my head and I am dreaming."

Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company will be performing four more shows at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on March 26-28.

Source:

http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32141/

http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32146/

http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/32140/