BUENOS AIRES—When Eutimio Rubio Sáez, renowned educator and principal of Colgegio General Belgrano, entered the Teatro Ópera Citi, he did not expect to be transported to a heavenly world of beauty and peace.
Mr. Sáez says that this is what he experienced at the Shen Yun Performing Arts on Dec. 14.
“I couldn’t have imagined it,” said Mr. Sáez after the show.
“It is magnificent,” he added. “There are no words to describe what one feels—thrill, dreams, a work of art. Truly marvelous.”
New York-based Shen Yun was established in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture, according to the company’s website. The ruling communist regime had attempted for more than 60 years to destroy and co-opt this ancient culture.
“It is outside of China that Shen Yun’s artistic creators have the ability to freely express themselves and their ancient culture,” explains the company’s website. “Their courage to speak up is an integral part of Shen Yun’s spirit.”
Mr. Sáez said seeing Shen Yun is “a moment of pinnacle experience.”
“One is transformed here,” he said. “It is as if one feels better [while watching Shen Yun], feels like one touches the peak.”
Shen Yun is “loaded with values,” said Mr. Sáez, including harmony and kindness. Moreover, the splendor and the music “seemed to me something precious,” he said.
According to the Shen Yun website, traditional Chinese culture stems from the “three pillars” of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
These faiths taught principles such as righteousness, benevolence, and compassion, and are the inspiration for Shen Yun’s story-based dances.
Mr. Sáez says Shen Yun has reached artistic excellence because it is clear its artists have a passion for traditional Chinese values and art forms.
“It is a passion for beauty, for harmony, for those things that do us [good], that generate well-being,” he said. “The plentifulness, joy, happiness, enthusiasm—artistically, that it is what elevates us.”
In his analysis as an educator, Mr. Sáez said Shen Yun is a good example of teamwork and working together to achieve a higher goal.
Many of Shen Yun’s dances feature synchronization between a large number of dancers, whose movements must not only be perfectly matched with each other, but also with the rhythms of the orchestra.
“Life is a search for harmony—the harmony in terms of teamwork, a synergy where all of us collaborate to do well—for well-being—to achieve other types of values,” said Mr. Sáez.
Mr. Sáez said everything in Shen Yun’s pieces “is perfection.”
“It cannot be missed,” he added.
With reporting by Justina Wheale.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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