FRANKFURT—Berlin public relations consultant Katharina Karmel was highly impressed with the ShenYun Chinese Spectacular after seeing the show at Frankfurt's Jahrhunderthalle (Century Hall) on Saturday.
"It was terrific. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life," said Karmel. "It was like a fairytale. It was quite colorful and enchanting. It was truly that one didn't need know anything about the history to understand the spirit of the show. It was truly beautiful."
"I truly enjoyed the 'Drummers of the Tang Court,' which was shown just before intermission. I also enjoyed very much the 'Mongolian Bowl Dance' performers," said Karmel. She also noticed that those around her in the audience were enjoying the show.
"The ten- year-old youngster sitting next to me was quite impressed with 'Herding on the Mongolian Plains.' He could barely sit still when watching this scene. I looked around me and found that the people were totally fascinated with what they were watching. The many colors, the choreography, and when all dancers moved in unison with all the others — this was absolutely gorgeous."
Concerning the dance piece that depicted the persecution of Falun Gong, she said, "It is absolutely necessary to show people something like this over and over again. They need to know that not everything in China is above par. These are people who live by the three principles [truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance], yet these are the ones who are being imprisoned and tortured. This is totally unacceptable. Therefore, one has to continuously make this known, be it through an interview, on stage, or through practicing Falun Gong."
She continued, "The message is quite clear, very explicit, and yet done absolutely beautifully. I truly don't have the feeling that anyone is trying to convert people; one only shows what is really going on. Even if one has not dealt with Chinese culture or philosophy, it can be understood from the way this message is delivered. The injustice has been made very clear and explicit and everyone can understand it."
Karmel said she was quite impressed with the orchestra. "What I really enjoyed tremendously was the live orchestra. They played instruments I had never seen before, such as the erhu. Then, there was something like a zither. I found it wonderful that they used a live orchestra. The singers' breadth of the octave was also… wow, these are true masters."
"I believe the lyrics and music were a good match," said Karmel, remarking on the German translations of the Chinese songs. "These masters touch — irrespective of the text — the heart deeply. I found it wonderful that in addition, the lyrics made sense. This message must be heard, be it through song, dance or writing.
Ms. Karmel found that the show's portrayal of Chinese legends and myths, which are not always available to Westerners, was well described.
"Because of the kaleidoscope of colors, one gets immediately the feeling as if being inside a fairytale, just from the stage design and the choreography, even if one does not know every detail of the story.
"Most importantly for me, all was presented in a way that touched the heart and was not somehow educational or as if one wanted to convince someone about something. The most important issue is that something happened here, and that what this other one is telling us touches the heart. You understand it, even if you don't understand the language and the stories, and that was what I found so wonderful."
Performed by Divine Performing Arts on Tour, the Shen Yun Chinese Spectacular will play three shows in Frankfurt before continuing on to Berlin and Hamburg. For other shows in the Divine Performing Arts world tour, please visit: www.shenyun.eu
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Chinese Spectacular. For our complete Spectacular coverage go to http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008/
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