ROCKFORD, Ill.—As a performing arts company free from the iron fist of the Chinese Communist Party, Shen Yun is able to share the beauty of a divinely inspired culture, as well as the dangers of communism to those in countries who do not know the true face of communism.
“I think it’s necessary because people don’t understand what’s happening in the world, and so I believe that it’s an appropriate medium to share the message with a wider audience,” said Christine Doolittle, an artist, who came to see Shen Yun Performing Arts with her husband Peter, an engineer, at the Coronado Performing Arts Center on the evening of March 1.
“I think it’s important for people to know what’s going on in a beautiful way and be inspired for change,” Mr. Doolittle added.
Communist nations use the arts as a tool to sell their ideologies. As a painter, Mrs. Doolittle shared her thoughts on this.
“Instead of destroying the things that make humans different and make us create, we celebrate creating versus destroying that which makes us create, which, that’s what communism does. It reduces everyone to a nothing, instead of letting us flower into what we’re supposed to be,” she said.Shen Yun is based in New York, and since 2006 has become the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Its mission is to use art to revive the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
Each year, Shen Yun puts on an all new production. Each element, whether it be the dance, the music, the costumes or the backdrop, all cater to each other to create the most beautiful result.
“It’s a feast for the eyes. The costumes are gorgeous, the colors are gorgeous, the choreography is gorgeous. It’s a beautiful thing to behold,” said Mrs. Doolittle.
With her sharp eye for color, she complimented Shen Yun’s color palette.
“It’s bright, but it’s very soothing and harmonious. The colors are very harmonious, and I can tell that they picked the correct colors to go together in the costumes, in the ladies’ costumes especially. I think the colors are very beautiful and soothing,” she said.
Shen Yun has eight companies and each company has its own live orchestra. Shen Yun’s orchestra is the only one in the world that has traditional Chinese instruments as permanent members next to their western counterparts.
“I enjoyed the music very much. It was very soothing, and I like how they blended the Western music with the Eastern music, traditional Chinese with the brass and other instruments,” said Mr. Doolittle.
Reporting by Stacey Tang and Maria Han.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
