A professional musician left in awe after watching Shen Yun in Portland, Maine, last weekend.
“This was fantastic. It was a wonderful experience. I was so impressed with the music, the dance, the technology, the scenery. It was very, very deeply moving,” said David Brandes. “It’s just beautifully done as a picturesque work of art, really just a beautiful work of art.”
Brandes is a conductor and a retired professor of music from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. He saw Shen Yun with his family on Oct. 2 at the Merrill Auditorium.
Having conducted many performances before, he said he was deeply impressed by the artistic skills of the performers.
“I was especially impressed with the music, as a musician. The coordination of the music with the interpretation of the dance was exquisite and very, very articulate. I was so impressed with it. I thought it was an outstanding performance.”
His wife Kathleen Brandes said the music is healing.
“When the host said that in ancient China, music was used to heal, I think this is true even today. People can feel that when you are in a place where beautiful music is playing,” she said.
Ancient Chinese culture placed great emphasis on the divine. Shen Yun aims to keep this tradition alive today, portraying values such as faith, benevolence, and respect for the divine.
David Brandes said he admires the spiritual and cultural connotations that came through the performance.
“I got a sense that this was a very deep spiritual expression by the dancers and the people who are doing it. They clearly love what they’re doing. They clearly believe in what they’re doing. So the spirituality of it comes through in a very, very strong way,” said David Brandes.
He added: “The artistic form, this is a high, a very high level of performance. And so I have another appreciation for that as well, a greater appreciation. But particularly the interpretation of the Chinese culture, the history came through beautifully in the performance, and here you are really watching something without words. But you know, the art speaks to us in ways that words can’t speak to us.”
“I think these kinds of things are what cause us to relate to our fellow human beings,” added Kathleen Brandes. “And the goodness that’s within all human beings really comes through in something like this. It was incredibly moving, beautifully done, and something that we’ll all keep with us for a very long time. So thank you, from my whole family. It was really, really wonderful.”
NTD News, Portland, Maine.
