ST. LOUIS—Steve Cassidy was in attendance for Shen Yun Performing Arts on April 21 at St. Louis’s Peabody Opera House.
“It makes me so much more curious about Chinese culture and how things were prior to the communist takeover, and the beauty, and the culture, and the scenes,” he said after the show. Mr. Cassidy said that when he thinks of modern-day China, what strikes him the most is pollution.
“But the scenes and the pictures in the graphics [in Shen Yun], there was like beautiful ancient China with benevolent emperors,” he said. “Where the emperors were kind and everyone lived in peace, and the arts and the culture just grew.”
“China was once known as Shen Zhou—The Divine Land,” reads Shen Yun’s website. “This profound name describes a land where deities and mortals coexisted, and a belief that the divine transmitted a rich culture to the people of the earth.”
However, since the communist takeover more than 60 years ago, that once divine culture has been nearly ruined, and brought to the brink of extinction. Today, Shen Yun is resurrecting China’s true, traditional culture.
“Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture. Its stunning beauty and tremendous energy leave audiences uplifted and inspired,” according to Shen Yun’s website.
That special energy was not lost on Mr. Cassidy. “It was such a display of beauty, and grace, and kindness, and to see the Buddhas there, I could see the strong belief in the teachings of Buddha coming across in the dance,” he said. “Knowing Buddha is all about compassion, the beauty, and the kindness, and I saw that coming across in the dance.”
“Very moving,” he concluded. “I'll be back next year.”
Reporting by Catherine Wen and Michael Fitzgerald
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three 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.
