Shen Yun

[Birdsall]

Has anyone seen the Shen Yun company? It is billed as Classical Chinese Dance and from pictures and short clips it looks quite interesting, but was wondering if ballet lovers would enjoy it. I might go to the Tampa performance, but I wanted to know if anyone on these boards have seen this company and what they think about it before I buy a ticket.

[lmspear]

I saw Shen Yun last Nov. There were about 10 short selections for each of two acts that were too repetitive for my taste. There was also a pair of MCs who introduced each piece with corny patter. There were some lovely moments. I'm glad I saw it, but I didn't have to buy my ticket, and I have no desire to see it again.

The company is related to the Falun Gong movement.

[Birdsall]

Imspear, thanks for the info.

[YouOverThere]

Curiosity has motivated me to resurrect this topic. Shen Yun seems to have become something of a phenomenon in the DC area. Three of their 8 performances at the Kennedy Center in mid-April have already sold out, at prices ranging from $85 to $250 and the other 5 performances are more than 80 percent sold. Their 5 performances this week at George Mason University are also largely sold, at prices ranging from $80 to $120 (and the students are on Spring break).

I've seen them, and I agree with lmspear's take: somewhat entertaining but not a major artistic triumph, and definitely not the best Chinese dance performance that I've seen (I thought the performance by the Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan that I saw last week was far superior - and with no cheesy MCs). I was wondering if anyone else has seen this group since this thread was created.

Edited March 12 by YouOverThere

[sandik]

They have become an annual event in Seattle -- I have yet to see them, but they promote themselves widely and seem to sell well. 

They're scheduled here March 28-April 3.  And Cloud Gate is here the previous weekend...

[Dreamer]

When the company comes to town, it always advertises heavily, sets up a ticket booth inside shopping malls and its volunteers pass out fliers at other art venues and on public transit.  Either the company has unlimited budget for promotion or their volunteers is a group of extremely dedicated people.