AMSTERDAM, Netherlands— Mr. Bahar , an exiled Iranian writer, brought Jalis, his daughter, to see the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts show on Saturday, April 18. Father and daughter felt moved by the program Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution.
The dance portrays a father who is steadfast in practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline banned in China. He is persecuted to death, yet the dance conveys a longstanding Chinese belief that good is ultimately rewarded.
Mr. Bahar said, "She [Jalis] also likes the dance regarding the family. She asked me the whole time: ‘What happened? Why did the papa [in the show] go to heaven?’”
At the idea that the father went to heaven because he was a good man, Jalis, his daughter exclaimed, "Yes!" and clapped her hands. Mr. Bahar said, "I´m really very, very happy. I will try to write an article about this later."
The Shen Yun artists present "works that center upon the true, divinely inspired culture of humankind," according to the program. Their narrative dances include ancient legends, stories of historic figures, and stories that represent contemporary Chinese history.
Mr. Bahar was very receptive to the content. He said, "I liked it very much. I am from Iran and I am a writer, and I like the history of China. I write about Persian history." He was imprisoned in Iran because of a book he wrote. He fled to the West and has lived in Amsterdam for years. He said his book was 'a Persian story.'"
He felt he glimpsed the soul of China in the performance. "The artists are so active, everybody [was] so active. I guess the soul of China is like this. Very, very ..." Jalis interrupted, saying, "It was very, very good!"
Mr. Bahar said, "Many people say the Chinese are very quiet, but there is a storm in their hearts, a storm of life. ... They are very active."
Mr. Bahar had a parting wish. He said, "If you have the opportunity, please say hello to the musicians for me. Nobody sees them, but they are supporting such a nice show. I don’t understand music very much. I just like to hear this music."
Show Is 'really amazing'
She said very sincerely, "I really loved the dances."
Her mother said she devotes 22 hours per week to dance study. Ms. Van Kleef said, "I liked everything. The costumes are very nice, and the dances are very beautiful; beautiful colors. This is a little bit of our roots because my father is from Hong Kong. He would have liked it."
She feels a special interest in Chinese culture. "Yes, I’m interested in all kinds of culture, and it has to do with Falun Dafa and Shen Yun. I also know about the persecution.
"The orchestra was also amazing, the music was really divine. These special instruments from China, the erhu [traditional two-stringed Chinese instrument] was really, really stunning. Also the piano I liked very much. The show is amazing, really amazing. The gentleman who was singing, his voice was really something special. He was actually very far from the microphone, but you could hear his voice in the whole auditorium. The show was really, really amazing."
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org