(Clearwisdom.net) Traditional Chinese culture was at the heart of Shen Yun Performing Arts' three-show run at Edmonton's Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on April 15-16, 2009.

Mr. Yakimishyn, a Ukrainian dance instructor, singer/songwriter and composer, was among the audience. He had came to see the performance with his wife last year. He said, "It is very beautiful, graceful, flowing, dynamic, dramatic. I love all the different patterns, the different story lines. It's a very beautiful show, very wonderful."

Mr. Yakimishyn, a Ukrainian dance instructor, singer/songwriter and composer

He commented on two dances, "Welcoming Spring" and "Udumbara's Bloom." "I love the flowers and how the flowers opened, the pink flowers and I also loved the other flower dance, with the flower that blossoms every 3,000 years--that dance was very beautiful, very stunning. It just seemed to have a radiating love, a sense of vibration of love, and it seems like it was at the core and essence of humanity, it just seemed to have that sense. It struck me that way and I could feel it down my spine."

Mr. Yakimishyn shared, "I felt a revelation, an opening of consciousness of humanity and an awareness of the eternal, of the divine, it seemed to have that sense. And that it is something very, very special. I liked the promoting of peace and love and humanity; that is something I consider I feel very close to in my heart, and I can see it very much in the dancers. I can see it very much in their feelings, through their expressions, through their movements. I can relate to that very much as a dancer and a performer myself."

Mr. Yakimishyn was also very much enjoyed the beautiful music played by the orchestra, "Oh, beautiful music. Very professional musicians! You can tell the people have spent many, many hours in training. The music was very well-orchestrated. The arrangements were very beautiful. With the dancers it all blended very, very beautifully. I loved the two-stringed instrument [erhu, a Chinese two-stringed fiddle]. She played so beautifully, right from the heart, you could feel her vibrations coming through in her music, very beautifully."

Mr. Yakimishyn said the erhu gave him a "very profound feeling" and that its sound went "right to the core" of his being. "It is beautiful when an artist can bring this out in their instrument."

He said, "Through the beautiful presentation, you have a sense, a sense of the people of ancient times. It's not just the present times. I think the culture is the most beautiful way to express tradition."

The message he is taking with him and will remember for a long time is, "The tranquility, the peacefulness, the discipline and the focus on heart and expressing your peace from within, in your expression through your dance, through your art, through your singing. I think that those are the high points of humanity."

Ms. McKenzie, a teacher, and Mr. Kanak, who plays the Japanese drums, attended the show and were inspired by the "completeness" of the performance. "It was very complete. It had visual effects, it had a story, and also the music in the background. It was a whole performance, everything worked very well."

Ms. McKenzie, a teacher, and Mr. Kanak who plays the Japanese drums

Ms. Mckenzie said, "I really, really enjoyed the drummers. The choreography was exceptional. All of the pieces are very athletic and very colorful, and the use of movement and costume together is just stunning in the way it works for the audience."
"It all meshes together to tell the story, each piece is very well done," added Mr. Kanak.

Ms. Mckenzie also commented on the beauty of the erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument, played by Mei Xuan. She said, "Beautiful sound, her playing was very emotional, her playing really touched my heart."

Mr. Kanak appreciated the orchestra with its unique blend of Chinese and Western instruments. "Musically it was very good. It kept the audience engaged in it, it was very fast-paced movement. They all played well together, they were all in time."

He was also thrilled by the "impressive" drumming pieces. He said, "I do Japanese drumming, so I enjoyed the rhythms quite a bit and they had a lot of movement, a lot of choreography. It was very well done, very precise. It was very good."

Folk dancer from Israel was highly impressed with Shen Yun Performing Arts

"I feel that it was really, really nice. The dancers were very professional. The movement was excellent," said Ms. Tzur. Now 52, Ms. Tzur performed Israeli folk dancing until age 30. Her troupe performed in many cities around the world, including Toronto, New York, Belgium, and Mexico City.

Ms. Tzur (R) and her companion

She said the Shen Yun dancers perform with "lots of energy, lots of emotion. They are really good dancers," she said, praising their delicate hand gestures and the way in which so many dancers were able to move in sync.

Ms. Tzur especially enjoyed "Welcoming Spring." "The Chinese dancers are elegant," she said.

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/15535/

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