AUSTIN, Texas—Shen Yun Performing Arts impressed Dr. Eduardo Huarte and his wife Mrs. Abril Huarte with its artistic revival of the divinely inspired Chinese culture at The Long Center in Austin, on Dec. 29.
“The most important thing for us is the spiritual part. Bring back the sacred to the people, the respect, the wisdom, the old Chinese wisdom,” Dr. Huarte said.
He called Shen Yun a “very beautiful way to convey a message to teach people about the Chinese culture—through art, through opera, through dancing, their mythology.”
Dr. Huarte said he found the Chinese culture—as represented by Shen Yun—to be very beautiful, very deep, and full of wisdom.
The New York-based company’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through traditional Chinese arts. Through those art forms, Shen Yun’s performances told stories ranging from Chinese ancient legends to current events.
The good-versus-evil theme was prominent in this year’s program and throughout Chinese history. From a story about how the Monkey King, a beloved character from the popular Chinese epic Journey to the West, began his journey to a modern-day fairy tale, “The Dafa Practitioner’s Magical Encounter,” Dr. Huarte found the tales to be universal.
“The stories, they’re probably the same all over the planet—that’s amazing. And that’s not different from different cultures. They all have gods, spirits, fairies, [they tell] of life, struggling on earth, and the ancient battle of good versus evil,” Dr. Huarte said. As a rotary club member and once founder of a rotary club in Cuernavaca, the moral themes resonated with him. “Good and evil is everywhere—it’s a long story.”
“Also, it’s combating good-and-evil, not with evil, but with art,” Dr. Huarte said, referring to the fact that these traditional Chinese values are not ones that the China today encourages, and as such, Shen Yun is not a show that can be seen in China. Dr. Huarte added that Shen Yun’s orchestra was “beautiful.” “[A] perfect unison of the East and the West,” he said.
The Shen Yun Orchestra is unique in that it combines Western instruments with classical Chinese instruments like the pipa and suona.
Mrs. Huarte agreed, “It was exciting, wonderful, and marvelous,” she said of the production.
Dr. Huarte added that the dancers were “excellent.” “They’re very fast, very soft; their movements are very coordinated, very harmonious. A lot of harmony with the dance, and the story that they’re telling through the arts,” he said.
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform next perform in San Francisco through Jan. 8.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
