Toledo Dancer and Gallery Owner: "Truly an Overwhelming and Powerful Production"

(Clearwisdom.net) Shen Yun Performing Arts staged one show at the Stranahan Theater, in Toledo, Ohio, on May 14, 2010, as part of its world tour.

Eric Hillenbrand, owner of Toledo's 20 North Gallery, was accompanied by Condessa Croninger, Associate Art Director of 20 North Gallery.

Eric Hillenbrand, owner of Toledo's 20 North Gallery and a Toledo Ballet and Toledo Opera performer, attended the show accompanied by Condessa Croninger, Associate Art Director of 20 North Gallery.

They were very happy to share their experiences of Shen Yun.

"I have seen productions on an international level, but this had something very special," said Mr. Hillenbrand.

Ms. Croninger agreed, saying, "We were swept away by the beauty of the performances and also by the incredible power of the arts to provide such a universal and compelling language to express the desire to be free. We were so moved and feel enriched by the performance."

Referring to the performers' abilities, Ms. Croninger said that she found Shen Yun to be "just amazing."

"The dancers have such a lyrical sense of expression and such a powerful delivery. It's just a beautiful performance ... It's so vivid and vibrant ... the entire production just makes a beautiful presentation," she said.

Mr. Hillenbrand added, "And the precision is overwhelming, I mean just to watch them--and I must tell you the singers ... just so touching, so amazing, very powerful.

"I will be honest with you, I have seen many theatrical productions and have been in a few myself, but this is ... it is world-class, it is something that one sees so rarely, it is truly tremendous."

Ms. Croninger concurred, saying that Shen Yun reflected great, quality performing arts and was the first classical Chinese dance show that she had seen of this calibre.

Mr. Hillenbrand said, "When you see the whole show, and its very masterful-expressions of people desiring to be free, you get past the artistry.

"The story is just so powerful, so compelling" making it a "truly overwhelming and powerful production."

Early in the first act of Shen Yun, tenor Tian Ge performed Will You Come Through to a hushed audience.

Mr. Hillenbrand confided, "I must tell you, the first gentleman, the first tenor that came out and sang in the first act―his singing was heroic. It was so powerful and yet the words themselves were such delicate expressions of this desire for freedom--that it literally made me cry."

"It was jaw-dropping"

"I was overwhelmed, I wasn't expecting anything that powerful, anything that would touch me so directly, so fervently. It was jaw-dropping, I was just overwhelmed," he said.

Ms. Croninger agreed. "The performance of Will You Come Through was masterful and so moving that it's almost indescribable."

Mr. Hillenbrand added, "I just couldn't even believe it. I literally ... by the end of it I was in tears. I was like, 'where did that come from?'

"It just overwhelmed me--there's no other way of putting it. And that's when I started seeing the rest of the show with this different, kind of an over-arching concept of what the show was.

"These people trying to express a desire for religious freedom, freedom as a people. You couldn't help but being moved--each song, each item," he said.

While watching the show, it appeared as if Mr. Hillenbrand suddenly awoke to the broader inner meaning of Chinese history.

"You forget the depth and the richness of the culture," he said, "how many thousands of years that this culture has been there--that is something I also was able to get out of the show--the fact that this culture had spanned millennia.

"That was another thing, that we in the Western cultures kind of see ourselves, kind of purely, from when things happened with our culture."

He continued, "We forget that throughout the world these other cultures had pre-existed us and continue to exist. There's a way of really bonding, internationally. I think this is just a powerful show."

For Mr. Hillenbrand, Shen Yun's message was "about people's desire to be free," as well as about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

He said, "The Chinese ... they speak in such clear, plain, understandable terms. When you speak of the artistry, you watch that it's beautiful, the story is so powerful ... I was just more taken in, each number, each storyline kept expressing it over and over again."

Ms. Croninger shared her thoughts in a quiet, serious tone, saying that she thought the applause of the Western audience, during the two curtain calls, was the voice of the West finally speaking deeply from the heart, against persecution taking place in China.

"I think earlier this evening Toledo City Councilman Michael Collins expressed his concern of how human rights violations in China over the past several decades has so often been met with silence from the West, and I think that Shen Yun - really, in that standing ovation that you heard tonight and that I'm sure you hear every night―you know that we are no longer silent," she said.

A birthday present worthy of a four-hour drive

Raymond and Tammy Crisp drove four hours from Chicago to Toledo to celebrate Tammy's birthday, taking in the Shen Yun show at the Stranahan Theater.

Mr. Crisp, a watercolor artist, said the colors in the different performances were awesome.

"The backdrops were really outstanding. I felt it really set the stage for what the dancers were doing," he said.

He added, "The colors and the motif that was created were outstanding to the degree that it fit.

"Each set was perfect for the colors, the costumes and even the way they danced."

He noted that the performers were genuinely enjoying themselves, something rarely seen in other performances: "These people are enjoying themselves while they are doing the actual dances, trying to portray different scenes."

He pointed out that Shen Yun provided Chinese Americans with a way to "show some positive images."

"It was wonderful to see the Chinese culture portrayed, not in a negative sense, but in a positive sense," he said, adding, "This shows a people that are strong, passionate, and have a view about life."

"This is a marvelous production; I am really quite impressed!"

Meg Dickason, an artist in residence, was also among the full house audience on Friday evening.

Meg Dickason, an artist in residence, said that while travelling to about 70 countries, "I always go to every single dance event, but this is most spectacular," she said.

"I work with thousands of children across the state, so I am anxious to share this with kids and I wish they could all be here. This is a marvelous production; I am really quite impressed!"

Ms. Dickason thought the colors and dances were superb, and that the animated digital backdrops were spectacular.

"I am very impressed. I know I've said that 10 times, but I truly am," she concluded.

Sources:

http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/35504/

http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/35481/