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Shen Yun: Made in China ®

2012-06-06

I caught the matinee for Shen Yun, which was somewhere between disappointing & cheap (although those tickets were not). You know that feeling, avid tea drinkers. When you think that you may have found this gem of a tea shop, only to realize when you start inspecting one of those “authentic” teapots from (let's say) Japan, you find that ugly little phrase on the bottom of it: Made in China.

I've compiled a small list of what turned me off of this performance, & an even smaller list of what kept me interested.

A Small List

1. The costumes were like gaudy Disney knock-offs. Albeit, somewhat(?) historically accurate in shape, but we're talking neon colors & enough sequins to redesign a drag queen's entire wardrobe twice over.

2. The dancers were out of sync A LOT. I am by no means an expert on dancing, but it was consistently so that even I noticed.

3. It was intolerably dumbed down, like a tourist attraction. “Can you say ‘Shen Yun'? Everyone now! ::gurgle mumble hack crunch::”

4. They repeated the same damn choreography for every single dance. By the fourth number, I could predict what dance move was coming next. They also used this one girl to do twirls across the stage every chance they could. I'm thinking that she was one of the few up on stage that could do 50-60 of these twirls without falling over from dizziness, thus she became a space filler. “Quick! Do those twirls across stage! They will applause for that!”

5. The guy you see leaping about in the flyer, was NOT a part of the performance. I couldn't actually find more than a handful of photos on Google related to this particular performance. The few I found of the Plum Blossom dance were of another performance at a separate venue, & they looked three times better.

An Even Smaller List

1. It made me want to pick up Chinese, & to go research the things I wasn't sure about (like the exact designs of the period clothing).

2. It was like a pop quiz for what I had already learned over the years.

I honestly tried to keep positive during the performance after I realized all of these things, but I just kind of felt like I shouldn't have had to pay so much for those tickets. However, I have seen it, & I won't have to wonder about the ‘what if' scenarios.

I didn't get to turn over the pot to inspect it or look for that black spot of authentic pieces before investing my money, but I did finally make it to a theater for a show for the first time since I've moved here. :)

 

 

http://everytea.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/made-in-china-?/

(Wordpress.com, January 29, 2011)

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