Hey, amours! A month ago, whilst the partner and I were strolling through town, we came across a stand showing a video about this event, and it looked super cool. So out of curiosity we just went towards it and ended up talking one of the ladies that was there. And within in few minutes I saw my partner going ahead with everything, and purchased a ticket. Call him crazy, but after the event on Sunday, we both can say that it was worth it. Let's be honest, at times those rational decisions end up being the best.
This post will be split into two parts. The first section is about the general review, the second section is about the in-depth talk about Shen Yun, and the history behind it.
THE DAY
On 26th March afternoon, we headed to Birmingham. We grabbed a lunch first from Subway, then headed to The ICC. When we entered, I was surprised to see a lot of people at the location, I did not realise many were interested, but that's great because it just shows the interest is there for the majority of the people. After a bit of hunt, we found our seating area, and it was a lovely location. We were on the right, on the upper tier section, and from that view you pretty much still see everything, giving you a great experience. Although I would say is that, if you were located in the middle section, downstairs then it definitely would maximise your whole experience because the backdrop gives out a much more effect. But bare in mind, the pricing of the various seating areas varies. And ours was £60 each.
Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any photographs of the performances so I will link a video from YouTube, so you guys can get a better understanding of how the performances were like. I feel there's a positive and negative view on this because as a person who loves to capture certain things, it would have been pretty amazing to have a couple of shots, as a memory. However sometimes, you just really need to experience it all, and not get distracted by your camera, and in a way, I was glad that they had this rule out.
Before entering the hall, those who wanted to purchase or had vouchers were able to get a book about everything to do with Shen Yun and the programmer, which is so handy because it's totally helping with typing up this post! The programme consisted of 9 performances for the first half, a 15 minutes intermission, and then 10 performances for the last half.
Before each performance, the hosts would summarise the what it would be about, which was great because, during the performance, you would be able to relate to what the story is about. Having said that the performances were so beautiful! Honestly, it was mesmerising watching it all. Every moment, step, flip, turns were elegant and on point. Every performer conveyed the story through the classical/ethnic dance outstandingly. I mean you could somehow understand what they were portraying.
Besides the dance, there were two other factors that contributed to building the perfect atmosphere. One is the Backdrop. The backdrop showed so much colour and beautiful sceneries that it actually made me feel like I was in China. Like I said before, if you were in the middle, the effect would have been even more, but even from my spot, it was all amazing.
The second factor was the Orchestra. There was a live Orchestra performance going on just below the stage but still visible. It added such a beautiful touch to the whole programme. I'm sure many of readers, as well as I, are all so used to the R&B, Hip Hop music, that we think classical music are just not all that. And I admit, you wouldn't catch me listening to classical music because it's not my cup of tea. But I surprisingly I actually enjoyed it whilst it was played during the programme. I feel that because it felt right. It created the ambience needed because let me tell you, no R&B, Hip Hop, will be able to create that type of feel.
And just a quick mention about the outfits. It was bright, colourful and gorgeous! Seriously, each outfit matched each backdrop, as well as the name of the performance. Honestly, though the producers, designers, directors, composers, choreographers, thought so well through everything when putting this as well as other programmes together. High quality for sure!
Overall, my other half and I are so glad we attended this because it sure was an amazing and beautiful experience. We love exploring and learning about various cultures, and if we can't travel at the moment to experience it, then we at least can attend these kinds of opportunities, because there's a whole world out there, that yet needs to be discovered. Definitely worth the price and time!
History of Shen Yun (Music, Dance, Culture)
The Chinese culture, Shen Yun presents, has unfortunately been destroyed in China under the communist rule. The reason for this is because the majority of the Chinese Communist Party's view is of the atheist so they see the spiritual culture 'as a threat to its power'. So it wasn't until 2006 when a group of artists in New York formed Shen Yun. Shen Yun is not allowed to be performed in China, however, it shares this heritage with many around the world.
You'd think the dance movements come from gymnastics or ballet, but in fact, these dance moves have existed for a very long time, it's part of the Classical Chinese Dance. The Classical Chinese Dance was shown through 'folk traditions, imperial court performances, and ancient theatre'. Classical Chinese dance has it's own 'unique and systematic training', which includes training in the fundamentals, physical expressions, turns, flips, tumbles, high-flying and more.
Onto the music. In the book, it says that 'Shen Yun Orchestra delivers this musical experience by blending the singular beauty of Chinese melodies with the precision and power of Western Orchestra'. And that's why it's lovely hearing it. Western instruments such as; strings, woodwinds, and brass are used. As for the ancient Chinese instruments, the Erhu and Pipa are used. The Erhu is described as an instrument that is 'most capable of resembling the human voice. And the Pipa (Chinese Lute) is known as the "king of Chinese instruments".
And that amours is the end of my experience as well as history post! Hope you guys learnt something from this and enjoyed reading the post. Little note; the video below, is different to the performances we watched, every year the concept/performances change, but the video still allows you guys to visually understand what I talked about in the first section of the post!
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This post will be split into two parts. The first section is about the general review, the second section is about the in-depth talk about Shen Yun, and the history behind it.
THE DAY
On 26th March afternoon, we headed to Birmingham. We grabbed a lunch first from Subway, then headed to The ICC. When we entered, I was surprised to see a lot of people at the location, I did not realise many were interested, but that's great because it just shows the interest is there for the majority of the people. After a bit of hunt, we found our seating area, and it was a lovely location. We were on the right, on the upper tier section, and from that view you pretty much still see everything, giving you a great experience. Although I would say is that, if you were located in the middle section, downstairs then it definitely would maximise your whole experience because the backdrop gives out a much more effect. But bare in mind, the pricing of the various seating areas varies. And ours was £60 each.
Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any photographs of the performances so I will link a video from YouTube, so you guys can get a better understanding of how the performances were like. I feel there's a positive and negative view on this because as a person who loves to capture certain things, it would have been pretty amazing to have a couple of shots, as a memory. However sometimes, you just really need to experience it all, and not get distracted by your camera, and in a way, I was glad that they had this rule out.
Before entering the hall, those who wanted to purchase or had vouchers were able to get a book about everything to do with Shen Yun and the programmer, which is so handy because it's totally helping with typing up this post! The programme consisted of 9 performances for the first half, a 15 minutes intermission, and then 10 performances for the last half.
Before each performance, the hosts would summarise the what it would be about, which was great because, during the performance, you would be able to relate to what the story is about. Having said that the performances were so beautiful! Honestly, it was mesmerising watching it all. Every moment, step, flip, turns were elegant and on point. Every performer conveyed the story through the classical/ethnic dance outstandingly. I mean you could somehow understand what they were portraying.
Besides the dance, there were two other factors that contributed to building the perfect atmosphere. One is the Backdrop. The backdrop showed so much colour and beautiful sceneries that it actually made me feel like I was in China. Like I said before, if you were in the middle, the effect would have been even more, but even from my spot, it was all amazing.
The second factor was the Orchestra. There was a live Orchestra performance going on just below the stage but still visible. It added such a beautiful touch to the whole programme. I'm sure many of readers, as well as I, are all so used to the R&B, Hip Hop music, that we think classical music are just not all that. And I admit, you wouldn't catch me listening to classical music because it's not my cup of tea. But I surprisingly I actually enjoyed it whilst it was played during the programme. I feel that because it felt right. It created the ambience needed because let me tell you, no R&B, Hip Hop, will be able to create that type of feel.
And just a quick mention about the outfits. It was bright, colourful and gorgeous! Seriously, each outfit matched each backdrop, as well as the name of the performance. Honestly, though the producers, designers, directors, composers, choreographers, thought so well through everything when putting this as well as other programmes together. High quality for sure!
Overall, my other half and I are so glad we attended this because it sure was an amazing and beautiful experience. We love exploring and learning about various cultures, and if we can't travel at the moment to experience it, then we at least can attend these kinds of opportunities, because there's a whole world out there, that yet needs to be discovered. Definitely worth the price and time!
History of Shen Yun (Music, Dance, Culture)
The Chinese culture, Shen Yun presents, has unfortunately been destroyed in China under the communist rule. The reason for this is because the majority of the Chinese Communist Party's view is of the atheist so they see the spiritual culture 'as a threat to its power'. So it wasn't until 2006 when a group of artists in New York formed Shen Yun. Shen Yun is not allowed to be performed in China, however, it shares this heritage with many around the world.
You'd think the dance movements come from gymnastics or ballet, but in fact, these dance moves have existed for a very long time, it's part of the Classical Chinese Dance. The Classical Chinese Dance was shown through 'folk traditions, imperial court performances, and ancient theatre'. Classical Chinese dance has it's own 'unique and systematic training', which includes training in the fundamentals, physical expressions, turns, flips, tumbles, high-flying and more.
Onto the music. In the book, it says that 'Shen Yun Orchestra delivers this musical experience by blending the singular beauty of Chinese melodies with the precision and power of Western Orchestra'. And that's why it's lovely hearing it. Western instruments such as; strings, woodwinds, and brass are used. As for the ancient Chinese instruments, the Erhu and Pipa are used. The Erhu is described as an instrument that is 'most capable of resembling the human voice. And the Pipa (Chinese Lute) is known as the "king of Chinese instruments".
And that amours is the end of my experience as well as history post! Hope you guys learnt something from this and enjoyed reading the post. Little note; the video below, is different to the performances we watched, every year the concept/performances change, but the video still allows you guys to visually understand what I talked about in the first section of the post!
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