SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shares ‘Universal Ideas and Universal Emotions,’ Says Emmy-Winning TV Producer

Apr 28, 2024
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Shen Yun Shares ‘Universal Ideas and Universal Emotions,’ Says Emmy-Winning TV Producer
Alessandra Martiens and Joshua Bennett enjoyed Shen Yun's evening performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on April 27, 2024. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)

NEWARK, N.J.—Emmy-award-winning TV producer Joshua Bennett and writer Alessandra Martiens enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on April 27.

Stepping out at the end of the evening, Mr. Bennett said, “The dancing was really impressive and really beautiful.” He was pleasantly surprised by the rich history of classical Chinese dance.

“I thought the synchronicity of the dancers and the costumes were really beautiful the way they flowed and moved—the combination of that was really special.”

As a producer, Mr. Bennett knows firsthand that “it’s very difficult” to create a show like Shen Yun, “especially with dance because you don’t have dialogue or narration.”

“[They’re] telling a very visual story, and I think the fact that [they] had the audience laughing and really enjoying it shows that the story came through. The ideas in the dances and stories were accessible to people,” he said.

The New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 by elite Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.

For 5,000 years, China’s civilization flourished under the shared belief that the divine will bless those who uphold traditional moral values. Tragically, within just a few decades of the communist party’s violent takeover, these beliefs were erased and replaced with atheism.

The mission of these artists is to return to the world’s stage—the glory and beauty of China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture.

Mr. Bennett was also very impressed by the company’s interactive backdrop. He thought it was “visually very cool to see” the performers jump in and out of the screen.

According to its website, Shen Yun’s innovative digital technology creates seamless interaction between the backdrop projection and the performers on stage. “By extending the stage to infinite realms,” this patented 3D invention brings to the audience “storytelling without limits.”

Referring to the artists’ mission to bring back traditional Chinese values, Mr. Bennett said, “The idea about truth, compassion, and forbearance is an important message.”

“I think it’s very important, and I think everyone can reflect on that. There’s a lot of wisdom and value in all of it,” he stated.

“[Shen Yun] reminds you to focus on what’s important in your work and on the things that you really care about—your own truths. It’s a good message for me to think about when I [am working on] the next projects and stories I want to tell. They’re universal ideas and universal emotions and feelings.”
Ms. Martiens, too, loved the spiritual element of the performance.

“It’s a really beautiful culture. I didn’t know so deeply until tonight. I think it’s inspiring me—all the colors and all this drama. It’s a cultural message,” she said. “It was really beautiful. This was my first time, and I loved it.”

The message Mr. Bennett will be taking home with him from Shen Yun is that “we’re all divine beings, and we all come from heaven.”

“I think that’s a really beautiful message. We live in a time where it’s very easy to place little value on humans and human life and ignore all the things that make humanity great,” he expressed.

“[The performance] is a reminder that we all have a divine part of ourselves, and we have to reconnect with that.”

Reporting by Frank Liang and Jennifer Tseng.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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