The production is extremely impressive, the talent is undeniably top-notch, and the performances are often breath-taking. But the message that is contained in the Shen Yun Performing Arts’ concert that was staged on two nights this week at the Sacramento Community Center Theater is not exactly an endorsement of the current Chinese government and its policies towards religious and spiritual freedom.
Instead, the production heralds Falun Gong (also referred to as Falun Dafa), the relatively new spiritual creation of Li Hongzhi that has been banned in China since 1999. If you aren’t familiar with Falun Gong, you certainly got a heavy introduction to it at the Shen Yun concert. Shen Yun, founded in 2006 in New York, promotes itself as a repository of authentic Chinese culture, particularly in the traditional dance that it presents in its concerts. But it is also espousing, often in heavy-handed fashion, the teachings of Falun Gong, resulting in a production that was a bit less enjoyable, for us at least, than it otherwise might have been.
Not that the dogma (if that’s the right word—Falun Gong is not a traditional religion; it has no churches or temples and doesn’t espouse worship or claim to follow the word of God, or any spiritual being for that matter) is innately offensive. It is based on Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, drawing heavily from Buddhist and Taoist traditions. It emphasizes moral rectitude and meditation as the path to better health and spiritual enlightenment. Simply stated, it is akin to a new-age humanistic creed, with respect for nature and love of all living things as basic tenets.
As for the artistic aspect of last week’s concert, it suffices to say that there was much to admire. In the main, it consisted of dance sequences that often told stories (most from Chinese history or legends thereof). Each vignette was elaborately produced with as many as twenty-four dancers on stage at any one time, and with scenery in the form of digitally projected backdrops from which specific dancers would literally emerge at various points.
The dances were all performed to live music supplied by a sizeable orchestra that consisted of modern and ancient instruments. All of the music was original, each composition created for this particular show. Much of it was written by the organization’s founder and artistic director, who is known only by his initials: D.F. The orchestra was conducted by Milen Nachev, a Bulgarian musician who has been with Shen Yun for four years.
Many of the dancers are of Chinese descent, but some clearly are not. All, however, are well schooled in classical Chinese dance, which features great athleticism. Many of the principal dancers in the troupe performed turns, flips, spins and other high-flying aerial and tumbling techniques in their solos. Some of these movements were breath-taking, especially when they were performed with artistic grace within the context of the story that the vignette was presenting.
Among the standout segments were the opening “Salvation and Renewal” (which put all the dancers on display and introduced the captivating digital scenery from which many dancers emerged); “The Lady of the Moon” (a legend that has a blessed couple rewarded immortality that puts the wife on the moon); “Fairies of the Sea” (which featured long silk fans that the dancers used in unison to create a sense of rippling waves in the sea); and, “Handkerchiefs” (an amazing dance sequence built around large handkerchiefs that the dancers twirled as if they were batons).
The concert also included two vocal solos by women who possessed nearly magical soprano voices. They sang “hymns” that spoke of the benefits of Falun Gong. While their singing was impressive, having the words shown on the screen behind them was a bit much, especially since they were also printed in the program. Another highlight of the concert, however, was an erhu solo (with Linda Wang playing the two-stringed erhu, accompanied by Huizhen Chen on piano) for which there were, thankfully, no words, printed or digitally shown on a backdrop.
Each segment of the concert was introduced by a pair of emcees: a male who spoke English (and a little Chinese), and a woman who spoke only Chinese (save for a single sentence she spoke in English). At times they seemed to be interpreting for each other (the audience on the night we attended was heavily Chinese or of Chinese descent), but at others they may not have been (or so it seemed). (Note: This review is based on a performance of the same program last weekend at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco.)
In the end, we felt a mix of admiration and irritation with the overall performance. As an artistic event, the concert was completely professional and much of it was exquisite. But the heavy-handed infusion of Falun Gong, especially with the political undercurrent against the Chinese government and its policies, detracted from the completely positive feeling we otherwise would have had on leaving the hall.