(Clearwisdom.net) The opening night of the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Ft. Lauderdale brought the sights and sounds of ancient China to Florida, and for many audience members it was a moving experience. In the audience was dancer Lisa Lumiere, who smiled happily after the performance.

"[The show was] so beautiful and elegant and graceful and [filled with] lots of joy," exclaimed Ms. Lumiere. "This is what the world needs the most--spirituality and [a] beautiful message for peace. Everything was inside!"

Lisa Lumiere, therapist and dancer

Ms. Lumiere said of the show's presentation of values and stories throughout China's 5,000 years of history, "...the best way to express and give a message to the spirit."

"It's beautiful, so divine. And so much happiness [it] gave me... I am Japanese, but I am so fascinated by the Chinese culture. It was my first time to know about this company, so let's spread it to all the rest of the world."

Ms. Lumiere said that she definitely plans to come see the show again when it visits the city next year.

Ballet Studio Director: "I absolutely love it!"

Ms. Elean, director of a Montreal ballet school, professional dancer for thirty years, and ballet teacher for thirteen years, was also deeply touched by Shen Yun's performances.

Ms. Elean

Ms. Elean was amazed and touched after seeing the show for the first time. "I love it, I absolutely love it! Your culture and ours are so completely different."

Integral to the New York-based Shen Yun performance are story-based dances depicting ancient heroic legends and folk tales, something Ms. Elean appreciated. "Just everything had a story in it and meaning, and I said to myself this is all coming back after all these years. Just marvelous, really and truly! I know it takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. You just have to love it to do it, to stick with it."

"I love the stories behind everything, the way they acted out. They have a lot of emotion, and that can be very important when you can express yourself without talking. Just love it."

The Shen Yun Orchestra, which features renowned performers and composers from around the world, includes both classical Western instruments and traditional Chinese instruments, which Ms. Elean found to be wonderful. "I was so impressed with the whole show. It makes you feel very good. I'm going home with a very good feeling from seeing this."

Ms. Elean went on to share how the show gave her a deeper appreciation for traditional Chinese culture. "I find, in ...[Chinese] culture, everything has a meaning, a story, it means something. It's very interesting to me. I love China. I was only once in my life there, but for quite a long time, and I just loved it," she reminisced.

In conclusion she said, "It was just marvelous. The whole production, I give you a ten out of ten. It was really good."

Shen Yun "Phenomenal" says Ballerina

The Shen Yun Performing Arts debut in Ft. Lauderdale was "phenomenal," said Erika, a former ballerina attending the show at Broward Center for the Performing Arts on January 26, 2010.

Erika (L) and her friend at the the Broward Center for the Performing Arts

The exhilarating presentation of China's millennia-old culture portrayed in classical Chinese dance, music, and song, was different from anything she'd known.

"First of all, the dancers are incredibly trained--they are truly beautiful. The choreography is very different--it's beautiful. I think the blocking is very [well] done. Visually [it] is very well put together," she said.

Classical Chinese dance is founded in China's divinely-inspired heritage, and has its own complete set of training methods, culminating in an enormous dance system. Being professionally trained at the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) and having danced for 25 years, Erika deeply appreciated Shen Yun.

"The movements are beautiful and gorgeous. The arms are gorgeous, the feet are gorgeous, and the extension is gorgeous and phenomenal. The body language is very impressive--emotive. The audience feels [what] the dancers intended the audience to feel. It's absolutely good."

Commenting on how seven sold-out shows in Hong Kong were cancelled this week because key members of the performing company were denied visas, Erika appreciated that Shen Yun brought the show to Ft. Lauderdale. She said Westerners find it hard to understand why Chinese people would be denied exposure to their true culture.

"It's nice we are able to be exposed to this show and learn more about Chinese culture. More Chinese people need to see it, so they will have an idea about the culture. But not only one part, everything included in this show."

Source:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/28693/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/28725/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/28723/