SAN DIEGO—When Shen Yun Performing Arts played at the San Diego Civic Theatre on July 14, the enthusiastic audience brought the exhilarating show to a successful end with a standing ovation at curtain call.

Among them was Jae Hopkins who owns his own business providing housing for international students.

He and his wife were seeing the New York-based Shen Yun for the very first time and enjoyed the show very much.

“All the girls are beautiful; all the guys are handsome. Everything was great. The music is so nice. It is the first time I heard a collection of Chinese instruments, so it’s very nice.”

Shen Yun brings to center-stage ancient China’s cultural heritage adapted from heroic legends, folkloric tales and modern stories portrayed in classical Chinese dance and music.

“I think Chinese culture is very rich. You have so many people and so many different ethnic groups; it’s a wonderful combination,” Mr. Hopkins said.
'It's wonderful ... beautiful’

Gali Steinberg, a professor of chemistry, was enjoying the show with her children.

They especially enjoyed the story-based dances performed by exquisitely costumed artists.

Each dance is synchronized to suit a digital moving backdrop scene, while a full orchestra playing a unique fusion of traditional Eastern and classical Western instruments is integrated with the dance at hand.

“It’s wonderful,” the professor said, thinking of the young maidens who deftly toss handkerchiefs into the air spinning and twirling with practiced ease. The bright yellow cloths in the dance, Handerkerchiefs turn into boomerangs, delighting onlookers.

Mrs. Steinberg also enjoyed the “beautiful” Tibetan Dance of Praise as both male and female dancers celebrate life in the snowy Himalayas.

And Wu Song Battles the Tiger also stood out for her.

The epic tale, inspired by the novel Outlaws of the Marsh tells of how Wu Song saved a village from a man-eating beast plaguing an outlying village. The traveler stopped off at an inn and downs three bowls of potent wine before hunting down the tiger.

Mrs. Steinberg said she liked the stories. “You can really feel them when they dance the story, it’s really neat.

“The backdrops are really nice. What I really like is the colors … so many colors, like all the costumes and everything. There’s a bunch of colors always: the backdrop, the costumes, everything together.”

She enjoyed the music and was mesmerized by the soulful tones of the ancient two-stringed instrument, the erhu. “It’s wonderful,” she said.

With reporting by NTDTV.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. Please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org for more information.

Original article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/39427/