LOS ANGELES—Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company returned last week to Orange County and Los Angeles, packing both Segerstrom Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with sold out shows in a four-day run.
The classical Chinese dance performance reveals the divine soul of China’s five thousand year cultural history. It accomplishes this through both ancient and modern stories, filled with color, music, singing and dance.
Shen Yun’s performance includes a unique orchestra, which combines both eastern and western classical instruments.
Mr. Edward Harman, a retired scientist, saw the Saturday matinee performance with his wife. He said he has watched the show three years in a row.
“I was so impressed the first time, and the second time it was the quality. It’s more than just the performance. There’s something behind the performance—a spiritual effect that really triggered itself for me,” he said.
“They’re all so fantastic. You watch the performance and it’s … wow! So fantastic! I’ve never seen anything like it … I could go on and on!”
Mr. Harman holds a Ph.D in physical metallurgy, and a Masters of Science in Physics. He said that in the past he wanted to understand how things worked, and then his thinking changed.
“After several years, I realized what I really want to understand is how I work! So I started investigating and studying human behavior, psychology and all that. It isn’t about physical science; it’s about mental science. What causes people to do these actions—like over in China. These actions are caused by people’s thinking being out of alignment with reality,” he said.
Mr. Harman was referring to several stories in Shen Yun’s program which depict the Chinese Communist Party’s religious and spiritual persecution—particularly the violent persecution of Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual practice based on the principles of Truth, Compassion and Tolerance.
Shen Yun’s website explains that, after more than 60 years of Communist rule in China, and especially after the Cultural Revolution, Chinese traditional culture has been all but completely demolished. However, the deeper spiritual core of the ancient culture, with its values of benevolence, honor, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the gods and the heavens, cannot be destroyed.
Mr. Harman explained that the performance moved him physically and emotionally.
