TORINO, Italy—Shen Yun Performing Arts has finally arrived in Italy, continuing its journey across Europe as its 2010 World Tour draws to a close. The New York-based artists were welcomed by a very responsive audience at the Teatro Regio on Tuesday June 8, with several standing ovations and three curtain calls.

This fantastic venue was originally built in the 18th century as an opera house and has had a colourful history including a name change during the Napoleonic War when Turin was occupied by the French, and more recently a massive fire in 1936. It was rebuilt in 1973 and now seats 1,750 people with an acoustic shell added to improve sound. Now the Teatro Regio presents a wide range of operas, both classical and contemporary, a fine setting indeed for Shen Yun's vision of a renaissance for China's 5,000 year old culture through the fine arts of classical Chinese dance, opera and orchestra music.

Vittorio Sette is a member of the board of the Teatro Regio and a Knight of the Republic of Italy. He has spent time in Macao and mainland China and is a devout Roman Catholic.

Sir Sette thought the show was "fantastic", adding, "I think it was really gorgeous. I didn´t expect a show like that because I didn´t know it was a show done by a group that is all over the world bringing this message of freedom to the world. I was expecting just a show of dancing and nothing else."

He shared his understanding of the current situation in China, where the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong is being persecuted by the communist regime, commenting, "I know it is very difficult there to have religious ideas. But without religious ideas I think you cant live. Because a life only for material things is not worth living ... I was very very happy. And of course the whole show was fantastic!

For Sir Sette, the most impressive aspect of the show were the artists themselves. He enthused, "The show had fantastic dancers and fantastic performers. Also the introduction by the emcees between every scene was very good. This was a very genuine way to present such a show, so my compliments for this show."

He said he will definitely recommend Shen Yun to his friends, exclaiming, "Absolutely. I don´t know if they will come from one day to another, you know, it is difficult, because it is a working day tomorrow. But I believe that some will come. I brought many friends of mine today." He believes at least 15 of his friends will come and he will be very happy to encourage them all to see it.

Sir Sette appreciated the animated backdrops which enhance the stories told by the artists, saying, "It was quite American for me. We are not used to this kind of moving images. But it was very good for the story."

The state-of-the-art digital backdrops portray glorious scenes of heaven and earth ranging from the Mongolian plains to the snow-capped mountains of Tibet, and above to even higher celestial realms. They are designed to perfectly match the dancers' costumes and choreography, thus adding another artistic dimension to the performance.

Sir Sette also enjoyed the music, commenting, "I´m not an expert, but I think it was good. I´m not used to Chinese instruments, but I liked it."

This year the artists are accompanied by the Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company Orchestra, comprising of professional musicians skilled in Chinese and Western traditions. This wonderful and unique blend fosters a better understanding of Chinese culture by Western audiences.

With reporting by Wen Jing.

Shen Yun Performing Arts will perform one more show at the Teatro Regio Torino, on Wednesday, June 9, at 8.00pm. For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Original article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/37020/