I looked down the barrel of the ten year mark and realized that I had been wishing to experience Shen Yun ever since I first saw their billboard while driving through the streets of Belmont, MA with my sister Jenni.
Remembering Jenni is more joyous these days than hateful, however, despite the great amount of healing that has taken place within me, I know that dissociation has a way of taking hold and limiting my emotions from fully manifesting.
She did not deserve to pass so mysteriously. Gone in the night with little to no accountability from medical "hero's" tasked with guarding her. Our children left in the hands of the abuser that wished her dead. This tragedy is far more layered than I can fully articulate on this page; The layers of onion chopped haphazardly and left to sizzle on the oiled pan, unattended, blackened and bruised.
May justice prevail. May freedom ring. May Children own their rights.
This review of Shen Yun is dedicated to her memory, and to all the lost artists that have found themselves buried under the heavy patriarchy.
Jenni, I love you ALWAYS.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ive begun to date myself in anticipation that IF I wish to open myself up to someone else in a dating capacity, that I must first have a foundation of self-love established. Keeping in the theme of looking down the 10 year scope, i've been here before, although, I understood my scars much less back then.
I found the Shen Yun booth while working at the Home and Garden Show being held at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, UT. The women selling the tickets had a vivacious energy that exuded from their very cores. The anticipation that had built within me towards the culturally charged show left little room for their sales technique; I sold myself on the show.
I saved the date, set a few reminder alarms so that all of me would remember our date and I headed back to the booth I was helping run for the weekend. The rest of my work day passed quickly, and I felt buoyed up despite the heavy co-workers that surrounded me.
The night of March 20th arrived quickly. I dressed to impress myself, choosing each layer with care. I first met up with some loved ones to support family who is experiencing a tragedy. A death has come too soon. When Jenni died I cried often, and without restraint. On this occasion, I felt the pain of those who the deceased left behind and all I felt in turn was an icy numb. I know it well as dissociation, an obvious indicator that I have much to feel.
A few hugs later, I zoomed downtown to find the nearest free parking to the ECCLES Theatre on Main Street, Downtown SLC, UT. The theatre lobby is warmly lit, a drastic change from cold Spring that lingers just outside the glass doors. I wore my Lucky Red Leather Jacket, one of Arista's favorite pieces to wear, and brought a book to read incase Aimes needs to detach from the crowd. Aimee wanted snacks, but À knew that its much better to respect curtain call. Snacks can wait, artists ready to share a story will not.
Despite arriving minutes before the curtain was set to rise, I was the first to sit in the row of seats. The other ticket holders arrived. To my right a family of three, two females and a male, quietly argued about where the male would sit. His energies lingered on the empty seat next to me, and my anxieties rose. The exquisite females that accompanied helped guide him to the seat in-between them, easing the tension that had built.
Why is it that men lose sight of themselves when confronted with their shadows?
The couple to my left had no doubts, nor lingering suspicions. The female confidently placed herself between me and her date.
My gratitude overwhelmed; I did not feel the need to re-situate myself in the empty seats to my left.
The red curtain rose and the story brightly unfolded before their captive audience.
Excerpts from Playbill:
"The Time of Salvation Begins: Choreography by, Yungchia Chen. Music by, D.F./arr. Jing Xian.
The curtain rises on a resplendent and lofty paradise. Celestial beings of every kind have gathered here, waiting. On a golden chariot the Creator appears, addressing them in a resounding voice: 'Follow me to the Earth to save all life.' Throughout the cosmos, brave divinities answer the call as the Creator leads them on a sacred mission to the human world. There, they assume various roles, from emperor to court ladies to soldiers, forging a glorious culture and setting the stage for the grand play of history."
(end of Excerpts)
*Edit: 04/10/2024, Did you know that the Shen Yun team have a patent on their digital art display where the characters move from the stage to the screen and vice versa?? I saw a very similar thing in Michael Jacksons 1993 Super Bowl performance... Which got me thinking. If Michael Jackson used it in 1993, Shen Yun began in 2006, and received their patent in 2016... does the patent actually belong to Shen Yun, or Michael Jackson? If it were up to the timeline, Michael Jackson would win. If it were up to Michael Jackson, the patent wouldn't exist and the whole world would have the ability to share stories using the technology. Maybe thats why Michael never sought a patent over the idea when he first used it back in 1993. Maybe it was an original idea, and maybe it was inspired by something he saw. That is the way art works in a way. Art inspires art. If I were Shen Yun....or rather, if I had any creative control over Shen Yun, I would release the patent and give the whole world use over the idea. Seeing as it isn't that "original" anyway...
A grand theatrical experience was promised and the Shen Yun Performing troupe delivered a perfectly tuned spectacle.
From the articulately crafted costumes, seamless props, well timed digital displays that allowed for other dimensions to be utilized, the stage representing the current human reality and the graphics opening us up to magical possibilities. I was spell bound by the range of emotions included in each story.
The show is originally produced each year. From every angle the stories are told with new: composed orchestrations, costumes, musicians, dancers, singers, technicians, digital art, and hosts. The two hosts of the evening spoke eloquently and with well timed comedy to engage us from beginning to end.
The dancers hold a magnificent elegance as their range of motion, flexibility, and artful presentation of material paired well with the live orchestration to take us on a historical journey.
Not only have the Chinese people experienced oppression and violence, but they have experienced a piece of humanity that is not isolated to their continent. For it is within the human condition to experience tyranny at some point or another.
Is not America experiencing such tyranny, within the current shadows of its underbelly?
Have we so easily forgotten the Holocaust?
Or the pioneer struggle from the East to the West?
The Trail of Tears?
Unfortunately, historical references to oppression are endlessly exhaustive. A pattern we have not overcome. Freedom waiting to be claimed.
"They didn't bow to the crushing power of Chinese Communist tyranny. For over 20 years, 100 million people have faced atrocities with courage and faith." (Playbill Excerpt)
The belief system, the violent take over, the social warfare all directly reflect upon historical patterns. Power tends to lose sight of its original purpose when faced with undirected chaos.
As the vibrant history unfolded I was brought back to my own upbringing as a Latter Day Saint. The many times that religion has told its history through artful means to help their members remain fully engaged in the work of the Lord.
It is so very common within religion to use art as a means of cultivating its followers from seedlings to full grown oxygen giving plants. It is also quite common to use art as a tool for manipulation and to create more followers, vs. leaders.
As far as this particular production is concerned I felt that all of their artists were represented well. They celebrated the whole company as equal contributors and held special focus for those artists that had dedicated more of their time to perfecting solos.
I felt that the artists displayed a sense of freedom within their core, which in turn radiated as beauty, a light filled elegance.
I was strengthened by their individuality and their ability to work as a team. I was strengthened to remember my own roots, and to carry myself forward in self-love.
Overall, we (I) was delighted to safely take myself on a date, a fancy date, I might add. I am ecstatic that we are stable enough to prioritize ourself, and that within the self we have room for our sacred circle of loved ones to find home within our heart.
To the Shen Yun Company of story tellers I say thank you. Thank you for your passion, vibrant life force, and individuality. Thank you for rebelling, for bringing us your story. Thank you for spreading the word on karmic justice and the ability to self heal through true love connections and stable family roots. Thank you for inspiring me to self-date and to step outside of what I know.
May we embrace the Spring Equinox; A balancing of shadows and light.
May we embrace self love as a means of healing.
May justice follow the Lunar Eclipse into the Solar Eclipse and onward to fulfill past due enlightenment.
Merci beaucoup,
-À
