AUSTIN, Texas—Margaret Lawson, a porcelain artist originally from Australia, and her husband, Leslie Lawson, a flight steward, were at the Long Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 7, where Shen Yun Performing Arts was presenting its unique collection of classical Chinese dance and music.

Mrs. Lawson has been involved in fine arts for 39 years and teaching for over 30 years. She has been a member of the Australasian Porcelain Art Teachers association and has been committed to increasing awareness in the art of porcelain painting.

She praised Shen Yun, saying, “It is wonderful. The costumes are just beautiful! And the dancers, and the music. I love the tenor … he was great.”

It was their first time seeing the show and Mr. Lawson said he was pleasantly surprised by the Shen Yun performance. “It's been good, it's very good, pleasantly surprised. The costumes are beautiful, the choreography is very good.”

Mr. Lawson enjoyed the story-based dance and both agreed that the stories were easy to understand, and Mrs. Lawson saying: “You could understand it all, it's wonderful.”

She particularly enjoyed the dances Flowing Silk, in which silken sleeves flow softly through the air, much like drifting ribbons in the breeze, and Wu Song Battles the Tiger, a well-know historical hero, Wu Song, was depicted for his heroic act of ridding a man-eating tiger from the village.

Mrs. Lawson also loved the music and, in particular, the solo performance of the erhu, a two-stringed traditional Chinese instrument known for its melancholic and hauntingly beautiful sound. She was familiar with the sound of the erhu and mentioned that she has quite a collection of erhu music.

With reporting by Jason Wang.

Shen Yun Performing Arts will next perform at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta, GA, for two shows on Aug. 21. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

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

Original article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/40621/