Issue date: 3/29/10 Section: Entertainment

Tickets for Shen Yun Performing Arts are available through Ticket Master or www.chicago-shows.com. For more information about the show and multimedia featuring some of the dances, visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org.

A stunning and brilliant world of tradition and the door-opening art is coming and swirling colors, heart-pounding music and beauty await you. Step inside a mystical world and unleash stress, for an epic showcase of performance and dance will astound you.

China's Shen Yun Performing Arts is coming to Chicago's Civic Opera House April 10 at 7 p.m. and April 11 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The show is already winning rave reviews from audiences all over the world, earning top honors from critics and art communities.

Shen Yun Performing Arts is a non-profit group from New York.

According to the organization's Web site, Shen Yun, "is independent of China's communist regime and which seeks to revive the true, five-millennia-old artistic tradition of China that thrived before decades of suppression by the Chinese communist party."

The group, formerly known as Divine Performing Arts, began in 2006 when several small dance companies and musicians came together to revive this ancient Chinese tradition. Currently, Shen Yun consists of three orchestras, three dance troupes, several composers, choreographers, costume designers and artists that travel worldwide, including London, Paris and Australia.

Tia Zhang, Shen Yun's company manager, said, "[The performance] provides the purest, kindest and most aesthetic art."

Shen Yun combines traditional dance with complex acrobatic and aerial skills. Each dance during the performance portrays a different time period in China's history, as well as different moods and stories.

Vina Lee, company manager and choreographer for Shen Yun's International Company, said, "We made the show unique because that's the original culture."

In addition to dance, Shen Yun also has singers and musicians perform. The singers-sopranos Min Jiang and Haolan Gend, tenors Hong Ming and Guimin Guan and alto Jiansheng Yang, among many others-sing traditional Chinese songs. Xiaochun Qi and Mei Xuan both play the erhu, a thousand-year old instrument known as a "Southern fiddle."

Furthermore, the costumes are a remarkable sight. The costumes, which range from gowns from the Tang Dynasty to the Manchu courts, are vividly colored, creating a dancing rainbow effect. Each outfit is made from silk, and according to the website, are designed to move like free-flowing water.

Many critics herald Shen Yun as a show that should not be missed as it captures China's artistic culture and beauty. While it is in Chicago, take the time to check out the spectacular show.

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