An audience appreciative of chance to view some of China's rich cultural traditions. (Edward Dai/The Epoch Times)
Complete with a live orchestra playing groundbreaking Western and Chinese composition, Mr. Robless, a retired senior advisor of the World Bank in Washington, and one other retiree, Ms. Williams, who used to work for the Australian High Commission, were among the appreciative audience of Sept. 4.
Mr. Robless expressed immense appreciation.
"Wonderful, so wonderful to see Chinese dance history portrayed these days," he said. "Beautiful, and having said that, in a Western setting it is easier for people here to understand—beautiful!."
He enjoyed the singing as much as he did the dancing, each act imbued with China's divinely-inspired heritage bestowed upon humanity 5,000 years ago, but eroded under today's communistic rule.
"It’s just wonderful and recreated hundreds of years before," he said. "The dance forms and the message, the messages were great."
Even the lyrics sung in Chinese translated into English printed in large letters on the LCD screen, he found easy to follow.
"I can understand it and with the translation it came through nicely. It was beautifully integrated and I thought it came through nicely.
"The message touched me, you know, that in the end men and the spirit come through ... Spirit is the important thing and that comes through. That conquers everything."
Mr. Robless said he had never seen such a production as Shen Yun and also had little knowledge of ancient China's spiritual practices.
He hoped that one day people of all persuasions living in China would be able to express themselves freely, and live peaceably.
"One hopes that there will be understanding between the government on one hand, and the people, so that all the time there will be reconciliation and permission for people of all beliefs ... to express themselves and to unite themselves as one Chinese nation.
Mr. Robless has a grandson who will attend university to major in electrical and computer engineering and his second major, Chinese.
"We came from Malaysia, where the Chinese population is quite big. So there is that background. For the first time, I have seen his dream, in a sense, depicting gods singing-and that was very interesting. Thank you very much."
The New York-based company's programme includes heroic legends, modern tales of courage, and folklore traditions, played against 3D animated backdrops.
'Very colorful, very well done'
Ms. Williams, who is of Chinese ancestry on her mother's side, before retirement worked for the Australian High Commission and later for the Australian Embassy in Malaysia where she now lives.
She was visiting her sister in North Carolina and grabbed the opportunity to see Shen Yun.
"I think it’s very colorful, very well done, the backdrop scenes of China, coordination of the dancing, very good."
Shen Yun Performing Arts will be holding two shows starting September 19 in Portland, Maine.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
