CEO Says Shen Yun’s ‘Pageantry is beautiful’

CHICAGO—“It’s a great show. It’s beautiful! The pageantry is beautiful. The costumes are beautiful,” said Dean Debiase, CEO of Entertainment Promotions, after seeing the Saturday night, July 7, performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company at Chicago’s Civic Opera House.

New York-based Shen Yun’s mission is to revive “5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture,” and presents that culture through classical Chinese dance, according to the company’s website.

Mr. Debiase attended the performance with his family.

His wife, Dr. Linda Debaise, a clinical psychologist, called the classical Chinese dancing “absolutely incredible,” referring to the spins, turns and leaps that are part of the techniques of this dance form.

Dr. Debiase bought the show tickets as a gift to her family so they could appreciate traditional Chinese dance. She also came because she loves fashion and color. “I find that the movements of [the dancers] is so beautiful and so technically perfect,” she explained, and endedg up agreeing with her son who explained that “the movement extends beyond the physical body.”

Her son, Logan, had explained how he saw the extension of the body achieved through the use of fans and silk sleeves.

“I find that Shen Yun is magnificent: the colors the vibrancy, the people, the perfection, the technicality—it’s beauty to one’s eye,” Dr. Debiase said.

One of the stories presented through classical Chinese dance was of the Monkey King.

“We were just talking about the Monkey story. [It] is really well done. It’s very alive—a lot of energy,” Mr. Debiase said.

Logan, a visual communications major, enjoyed this particular dance as well: “I have taken a Chinese culture class and I like the interpretation of the Monkey story because I’ve read that book. … I really liked it.”

Speaking about the high-tech animation that helps bring the story-based dances to life, Logan said: “The animation was interesting. I like how [the Monkey] ended up in the Buddha’s hand at the end. He jumped off stage and the hand grabbed him and that’s part of the story where the Monkey gets stuck in the Buddha’s palm and he can’t leave. He tries to go to the ends of the earth, then realizes he is still on the Buddha’s palm.”

Logan said the piece was contrasting the all-powerful nature of the Buddha with the behavior of the Monkey that is “foolish and violent.”

Both mother and daughter sensed deeper meaning in the pieces.

I’m very excited to see the costumes, the alignment and the symbolism that you get.

—Dr. Debiase

Dr. Debiase said: “I’m very excited to see the costumes, the alignment and the symbolism that you get. In China, often many people [are] representing one and the one representing all.”

The daughter liked the pieces that depicted the persecution of the peaceful spiritual discipline, Falun Gong, currently going on in China. “I thought that was interesting. I thought it was important to have some kind of message there because its very aesthetically pleasing, the whole show, and it’s very exciting, very colorful, and beautiful, [but] I like some message there, too, so I was happy to find them as well.”

She explained further, saying: “It was important to show some part of the culture, too, beyond the aesthetically pleasing, but it’s an amazing show, how everyone is uniform, moving, great precision, it’s really beautiful. I’ll definitely come back.”

Dr. Debiase agreed: “I just loved this. It’s absolutely fabulous and I’ll come again.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma, Valerie Avore and Sharon Kilarski.

Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive classical Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

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

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