Now, while it goes without saying that the dancing in this show was both elegant and beautiful, I always feel a little hoodwinked when people over-politicize performances that aren’t advertised as such.
Going into this with little knowledge of it other than it being a showcase of traditional Chinese dance (while thre were singers and orchestral performances involved), I found it slightly strange when the dances started off with both Taiwan and Tibet, two countries Mainland China has, shall we say, challenges with. When a performance of a Falan Dafa protest being broken up by dancing, evil police thugs was then portrayed I was beginning to wonder who was actually financing this thing and made a slight joke to my seat partner “Sponsored by the US State department.” In fact, the subtle undercurrents of the show and the battling of the ancient evil red dragon come to Earth had obvious symbolic overtones.
The second half got a little stranger though, as the number of Falan Dafa dances done increased, with unsubtle political and religious overtones to the point that I felt that the entire show was not so much a showcase of traditional Chinese dance as an advertisement for Falun Gong. Of course, considering the Chinese government propaganda, perhaps it’s more than justified counter-propaganda, but I would have preferred not to being so disingenuously advertised to as it being simply billed as a show of traditional Chinese dancing and arts. Apparently, there are threee touring companies and an entirely new show every year that gets done which is actually quite impressive. The show I saw was completely sold out, either pointing to its popularity or the ability of Falun Gong to suck its extended network into the audience. I’m not sure which.
That said, if you can see past the obvious propaganda, the show does showcase dancing that, they quite rightly point out, is not available to be seen anywhere in Mainland China and some amazing things done with the beautiful human form.
(Blog.wakatara.com, May 5, 2012)
Original text from: http://blog.wakatara.com/2012/05/05/shen-yun-performing-arts-capitol-theatre/
