SHEN YUN TROUPE

 

I rarely rush a review out to you guys because I need time to mull over what I just experienced. But, as this spectacular show is in town for this week-end only, I had to get this posted pronto, especially because this is a must-see for dance and culture aficionados.

It’s Shen Yun, and runs July 8-11 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The press release describes it thusly: “Shen Yun Performing Arts takes you on a magical journey spanning 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture, with a breathtaking blend of music, costumes and performers, transporting you through China’s magnificent dynasties via song and dance.”

I had forgotten that the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is an intimate, wonderful venue, especially fabulous for dance shows. All seats provide excellent views, and this particular show is so colorful, and has so many performers, that everyone has something great to look at, no matter the angle or their location.

I missed the pre-show VIP reception because I just had to watch Lebron’s announcement, (my thoughts on that whole spectacle on Monday,) so I stuck around for the after-party in the same old school room in the theatre. But the show itself is the only part of the evening I cared about, for once!

It’s comprised of many clever dance numbers, with four musical interludes. I could have done without the three singing ones, but a girl playing an erhu, which is a Chinese instrument akin to a violin, but with just two strings and played upright, (and sounding sort-of like a flute to me) was breath-taking! You could have heard a pin drop in the theatre. Even the often cynical Mr. X was enthralled. (He’s almost strictly krump and hip-hop in his tastes.)

The dancing was wonderful! Two corny announcers, who spoke in-between each number, let us know that this was “Classical Chinese dance,” which is a cross between ballet and acrobatics, and where flips and such originated. As stilted, Disneyland-presenter-style, and annoying as the speakers’ delivery was, they were definitely educational, and I appreciated their information. It helped to know what each dance was portraying, though the beauty of most of the numbers would have been the same with no knowledge of what it meant.

My favorite number was entitled simply Handkerchief. I was mesmerized. And I loved that, throughout the show, the dancers made music out of simple items, such as chopsticks and jewelry. And every single number had beautiful colorful costumes and backdrops. The latter were not sophisticated, but very fun, and occasionally magical.

Of interest to me is, that as gorgeous as it all was, I didn’t get the feel of the precision of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, for which the Chinese are widely known. It turns out that all of these performers are from the West! This is not a function of China, as explained by the announcers. I’m glad they told us that, because there were two anti-government numbers, and I was wondering how that got sanctioned. I was worried that they’d all be imprisoned when they got home! But, despite the dancers not being from China, they all had that incredible Asian grace. Even their hand movements were fascinating. Every dancer on earth should study them.

This audience was wonderfully well-behaved, which is a rarity. I didn’t experience even one bad moment because of the usual antics. (And even if a patron did talk out of turn, it was usually in Chinese, so it just added to the ambience!) So, my only distraction was that these Asian-American dancers were making me think even more about the plight of the amazing Alex Wong, the star of this season’s So You Think You Can Dance. He injured his Achilles tendon the other day, and I wouldn’t find-out his fate until I returned home and got to watch the oh so sad results show. (More on this topic next week, in my TV Thoughts column.)

After the show, there was a small cupcake reception in a regal private room that I never knew was in the building! It was the perfect classy end to a wonderful evening of culture.