Fashion Photographer: ‘I was blown away’
Posted by Lucky on Jul 12, 2010
LOS ANGELES—Olesja Mueller and Thomas Astrauskas were impressed by Shen Yun, and felt that they could not have chosen a better way to celebrate Olesja’s birthday.
“Yeah, an amazing impression. You couldn’t do anything better for your birthday. It will stay with you for many years,” said Ms. Mueller.
Being a fashion photographer, Olesja has an eye for colors and detail, and was amazed by how the costuming of each Shen Yun piece integrates with the performance.
“The costumes were amazing,” said Ms. Mueller. “I could see that they correlate with the environment. It depends on the region, I guess, that’s how the costumes reflect the nature, the psychology of the culture that lives there. I really loved how the material and the fabric fits perfectly [with] the moves, because they are so flowy and airy. They kind of defy gravity because they are in the air. Everything flows.”
In addition, Ms. Mueller did not know much about Chinese culture prior to watching Shen Yun last night, but seemed to leave the theater with admiration for Chinese culture and philosophy.
“I learned that the Chinese culture goes really far back. And it is very rich in a way that is different from European [history]. Of course it is different, but I didn’t know anything about Chinese culture until tonight. And now I feel that it is its own world and it is very beautiful. It is really elegant. The whole philosophy is different. It’s more reserved and more poised, not really flashy. The costumes are beautiful, but the moves—they always hold their posture, it is more about the inner substance than the tricks to impress the crowd.”
Whereas Thomas, who works as an engineer, has been exposed to Chinese culture in the past, and felt that it is important for Shen Yun to continue touring the world.
“Pretty good show,” he said. “I mean, amazing show. Pretty good experience. I know a little bit about Chinese culture. It’s one of the oldest in the world. It’s good to have shows like these to show the world about the rich culture of China.”
Mr. Astrauskas liked the story-based dancing and said, “My favorite part probably was, I would say, Tibet, the dance from old Tibet,” referring to the dance titled Tibetan Dance of Praise, which shows how dancing is an integral part of Tibetan culture.
Ms. Mueller’s favorite part of the show was the solo musician who played the erhu (a Chinese two-stringed, bowed instrument).
“The music was amazing. I had never heard the erhu before. I was blown away. That was one of my most favorite parts of the show. When that lady was playing it, just such sound,” she said. “A little bit of sorrow, but still with a promise of happiness. You listen to it and just want to listen to it and all of your thoughts pass away. It’s eternal.”
“I really learned a lot. Enriched my world of culture,” she added. “It’s my birthday today. I wanted to go here today.”
“As I said before, it’s very elegant and poised. It’s not really flashy in a way with a lot of crazy moves. They carry themselves with elegance. You can see that, the whole dance is not just crazy moves and boogie-boogie. It’s more philosophical in a way … they are almost not human, those dancers, because they fly, they slide and fly like some type of heavenly creatures,” concluded Ms. Mueller on her thoughts about the classical Chinese dance seen in Shen Yun.
