DC Fundraiser Learns About the Spirituality of Chinese Culture

“This is my first time to experience the Chinese culture in such a fantastic way. So I am happy to be here.”
DC Fundraiser Learns About the Spirituality of Chinese Culture
Executive Fundraiser Vernethia Kaveri Williams attends Shen Yun Performing Arts in Washington. (Lisa Fan/The Epoch Times)
3/22/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
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WASHINGTON—Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Group continues to enthrall Washingtonians during its 13-show run at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

A Shen Yun performance is indeed a feast for the senses. It features unsurpassed Chinese classical dancers, a live East-West orchestra, world-class singers, hundreds of brilliant hand-made costumes, and breathtaking digital projection.

Shen Yun was formed in 2006 in New York with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture. It seeks to reveal the deeper spiritual core of ancient Chinese culture, says its website, with its values of benevolence, honor, propriety, wisdom and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the gods.

The cultural and spiritual aspect of Shen Yun is what really touched the heart of Executive Fundraiser, Vernethia Kaveri Williams. “I learned about the spirituality that exists within the Chinese culture. The message is that we are all one—which the most important thing in life, as the soprano said in her song, was ”to experience the God within.”

The song that Ms. Williams referred to was one of the resounding voices of the bel canto soloists that are an integral part of the Shen Yun experience. Their impassioned songs give voice to hopes that have shaped Chinese culture for centuries.

“The other thing that I loved was the similarity that I feel between cultures,” Ms. Williams, who loves to travel and learn about different cultures, said. “This is my first time to experience the Chinese culture in such a fantastic way. So I am happy to be here.”

Ms. Williams felt sad that Shen Yun couldn’t perform in China due to the current regime’s attempts to damage traditional culture, including the arts, but Shen Yun is working to change that. “We all have our own individual heritage that we want to maintain; everyone has their own culture, their own heritage, and should be able to keep it alive in their own country.”

“The show was fantastic. I love the precision in the dancing, and I loved the colors! So I am thankful that I am here. And I will definitely come back next year, and recommend it to my friends and family.

Reporting by NTD Television and Sophia Bronwen.

Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at The Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C., through April 1.

For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org