SAN FRANCISCO—As the curtains closed on the final San Francisco show, a sold-out performance by Shen Yun Performing Arts at the War Memorial Opera House on Sunday, Jan. 8, audience members were left in awe of traditional Chinese culture.
According to its website, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture through classical Chinese dance and music.
Bill Watson is a race car builder and company owner from Marin County, who rebuilds historic BMW race cars, which race at Laguna Seca, Sebring, and other racetracks around the world.
Mr. Watson thought the performance was “beautifully done” and “striking.”
“The songs were wonderful,” he continued. “The orchestration was terrific. The dance was very enlightening.”
Having visited China a few years ago, Mr. Watson found that the show brought back memories for him. “It was interesting seeing aspects of the culture before the current regime, and how those were portrayed,” he said. “That was particularly interesting to me because the culture is ancient, especially compared to the United States.”
“The whole question of respect for elders and veneration of legacy was very, very clear to me,” he added.
Mr. Watson watched the performance with Wendy Iverson, who thought it presented “a nice meld of the ancient and the modern.” She has never visited China and was interested to learn about its traditional culture. Watching Shen Yun made her want to travel to China.
The New York-based company is banned from performing in communist China, where the traditional arts are oppressed. Some of the dances portray the peaceful spiritual practice of Falun Dafa, which is based upon the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, and is persecuted by the communist regime.
“It made me want to learn more about that,” Ms. Iverson said, noting the interplay between good and evil. “So that’s compelling in and of itself.”
She also liked the costumes and the color, and found the lyrics to the vocal solos very interesting.
Mr. Watson found that the overall experience broadened his mind. “It’s fascinating to see something where the context is so completely different,” he explained. “It forces you to enlarge your recognition of what exists, of what there is on this planet. It grows your mind.”
The Dancers Are ‘Incredibly accomplished’
Jon Jones, financial adviser and company owner, also enjoyed the show. “I love it,” he exclaimed. “It’s wonderful, beautiful.” He also found it very inspiring and uplifting. “It’s meaningful. It makes you appreciate cultivating one’s life.”
Mr. Jones mentioned the soprano solo “What Is the Meaning of Life,“ which he found ”very thought provoking,“ adding, ”It makes one start to think why we descended to earth.”
He thought the dancers were “wonderful, beautiful, very artistic, incredibly accomplished,” noting the dancers’ discipline and practice required, as well as the choreographers.
Mr. Jones also appreciated the Shen Yun Orchestra, featuring a unique combination of traditional Chinese and classical Western instruments, which he described as “very elegant.”
When asked how he would describe Shen Yun to his friends, Mr. Jones said that “they must see it!”
Reporting by Abraham Thompson, Youzhi Ma, and Cassie Ryan.
Shen Yun’s New York Company will continue on to Costa Mesa and then Los Angeles, starting January 11. Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
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