WASHINGTON—Ms. Eleanor Dyment surprised her husband Mr. Michael J. Dyment for his birthday with tickets to the Jan. 25 Shen Yun performance at the Washington’s Kennedy Center Opera House.
Ms. Dyment said, “It’s his birthday, but it was a surprise. I didn’t tell him where I was taking him tonight.” He chimed in, “It’s a very nice birthday gift.”
According to LinkedIn, Ms. Eleanor Dyment is editor at The Washington Times, a Washington D.C. newspaper, and an author.
She said, “I write historical books about women in past centuries, royal mistresses and that kind of thing.”
Mr. Michael Dyment is the owner and managing director of NEXA Capital Partners, a corporate finance advisory firm. Mr. Dyment also had worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Ms. Dyment said that the Shen Yun performance “was very beautifully done.”
Mr. Dyment agreed with his wife and said that the performance “was very good. It’s nice to see a Chinese cultural performance here in the U.S.”
“I enjoyed how it spanned different areas of China from the countryside to the royal palace to the old folk tales. It has so much of the culture. When you say Chinese culture, it’s not just one century or one area, it’s millions of people over thousands of years, and I think the Shen Yun staff did a good job of picking from all of those things to present tonight’s performance,” said Ms. Dyment.
Responding to his wife’s detailed thought, Mr. Dyment said “It was an excellent performance … It does beautifully reflect the culture of China, and it’s so nice to see this type of performance because you can’t see it in China. You have to see it outside of China.”
Mr. Dyment is commenting on the fact that the Chinese communist regime has systematically eradicated traditional Chinese culture and will not allow Shen Yun to perform on the mainland.
The music was “very enjoyable. I’ve never heard Chinese opera before, so that was something very new,” said Ms. Dyment.
“I also enjoyed how they had the two hosts, with one speaking in Chinese while the other spoke in English. I like to hear the Chinese words spoken even though I don’t understand them. I just like to hear the intonation. I felt that that too added to the performance.”
She won’t hesitate to tell others about the performance, “I will tell people that the costumes were beautiful, so was the music. We enjoyed the dance scenes and most of all we feel a true appreciation for a very ancient and sophisticated culture. This performance is something they should see.”
Reporting NTD and Heide B. Malhotra
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
