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Shen Yun Review: Keisha Laren Clarke Gray, Broadway performer with credits including “The Lion King”

“This year I said, ‘No, we’re going to go, we’re going to see it,’ and I just knew that it would be amazing. The artistry, the dancing—because I know how hard it is, because of the schedule that I’ve had, and I know what it takes to put this kind of show on—so I wanted to clap every single moment! But, you know, out of respect… The backdrop that you have, the screen, to be able to bring forth pictures and things from long ago and today, and to bring that together into the story… So the dancers expressing their emotions and the way that we dance, through life, being able to share what we feel. And whether it’s funny, or sad, or political, or something serious—I was able to get that through the dance… What they did in the orchestra was wonderful. They were on point, and I could tell that they were having a good time with the music. And we appreciate live music, because it’s also their expression, and you’re able to take both art forms and meld them together, and it’s like a marriage. So it was wonderful, beautiful… I think the message, again, about peace, about working together, about loyalty, about foundation, tradition, is important today. We need it more than ever to come back to the traditions of life that were set in the beginning. And Shen Yun is bringing that. Traditions of old help, that’s our foundation. And young people today are just down in their phones and down in, you know, down in technology, but they have to remember what the root of everything is. ”

Keisha Laren Clarke Gray, Broadway performer with credits including “The Lion King”