Shen Yun Performing Arts to Illumine Chinese Culture at BJCC

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Image Of Shen Yun Website … divinearts.org

On August 21-22nd, Birmingham will become host to the world’s premier Chinese dance and music company, the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts. Renowned for its elite performers and brilliant costuming, the company brings to life ancient Chinese culture through expressive choreography and vivid backdrops.

The show provides a rare glimpse into the cultural history of the world’s most populous country, a country that, according to the Shen Yun company, suffered a great loss of its unique culture during the rise of communism and the Cultural Revolution, a 1960s-70s-era campaign focused on the abolition of the “Four Olds”: Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits and Old Ideas. The mission of Shen Yun Performing Arts is to “revive the true, five-millennia-old artistic tradition of China that thrived before decades of suppression by the Chinese communist state. The company seeks to breathe new life into traditional Chinese culture while providing audiences everywhere with an experience of sublime beauty.”

And beautiful the production is. Shen Yun Performing Arts spares no effort to exact aesthetic pleasure. Shimmering fabrics, intricate embroidery and colors both bright and subtle make the costumes a sight to behold. A full orchestra as well as solo singers and musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments such as the erhu, a two-stringed bowed instrument sometimes called the “Chinese violin”, create music to match the scene at hand – sometimes robust and fast-moving, other times tender and languid. The leaps, spins and delicate movements of the dancers are more than just entertaining; athleticism and gracefulness combine to impress audiences both young and old.

Birmingham is one of over 80 cities on four continents to showcase Shen Yun in 2009. In previous years, Shen Yun has performed on the stages of New York’s Radio City Music Hall, London’s Royal Festival Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center and Paris’ Le Palais de Congrès. During Shen Yun’s inaugural season in 2006-2007, some 200,000 people flocked to see the product of years of artistic experience and vigorous training that the members of Shen Yun Performing Arts bring to the stage in each show. During 2007-2008, the number in attendance at the company’s performances around the world tripled to 600,000, and that number is still growing as more cities are added to the tour each year.

Members of the Birmingham arts community are promoting Shen Yun’s August performances at the BJCC Concert Hall as an opportunity for one and all to see China’s vibrant cultural history brought to life in a visually stunning and dynamic manner. The show is open to all ages and will be at BJCC Friday, August 21, at 7:30pm, and Saturday, August 22, at 7pm.

To learn more about the show, view a photo gallery of past performances and purchase tickets, visit Shen Yun online at www. shenyunperformingarts.org.

by: Bonnie Bailey

www.bonniebailey.net

Tags: Arts, Chinese Dance, Events, Local News, Performing Arts, Shen Yun
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