HOUSTON—“I feel their hearts—they put everything into their performances,” said Kirby Lammers, owner of the company Mind, Body and Business, who came to see Shen Yun Performing Arts on Dec. 23 at the Houston Jones Hall for The Performing Arts with his wife.
“They are very special people, very devoted to their talents ,” he said, “and you can tell, they work really, really hard.” Mr. Lammers is an executive leadership coach, and hosts his own radio and television show. He also sits on the board of a number of organizations.
Lisette Lammers said the show was “perfection.” She was full of praises for Shen Yun after walking out of the theater. “It was spectacular,” she said, “I love the pageantry, the colors, the dance, the music.”
Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance and music company, takes audience members on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese history through a combination of expressive dancing, a unique orchestra, vivid costumes, and animated backdrops. The company, now with four different groups, tours the world every year, performing in over 100 cities in different continents to bring global audiences the rich and spiritual traditions of Chinese culture.
As a musician himself, Mr. Lammers was particularly drawn to the music in Shen Yun, which combines Western instruments and Chinese classical instruments to create an original and unique sound. “The combination of it added so much excitement and flair to the music,” he said.
Mr. Lammers plays the bass guitar, guitar, 5-string banjo, keyboard, and drums. He first started playing when he was 9 years old, and still plays in a band and travels extensively to perform.
“I love the way [Shen Yun] can take and paint the music,” he said. “The music was so moving—plenty of dynamics, all the highs and all the lows—you feel your music. Music isn’t really made just to be heard, it is made to be felt.”
The performance of the erhu, the two-stringed Chinese classical instrument sometimes called the Chinese violin, deeply moved both wife and husband. “Unbelievable!” Mr. Lammers said enthusiastically, “We enjoyed that so much. I had chills going up and down my spine.”
As the Shen Yun website states, “The erhu is incredibly expressive … its melodies can be tender or sonorous. In its lowest and middle range, the erhu is especially stirring and somber, a quality eminently suitable for conveying the grand pageant of China’s history and the emotions of its people.”
Mr. Lammers also expressed his sympathy with the performers, who are barred from performing in China. The Chinese Communist Party, which has desperately tried to crush spirituality and Chinese traditional moral values over the past seventy years, opposes the show for reviving these values and beliefs on the world stage.
He said, “I am just glad these entertainers can come and do this throughout different parts of the world, and be able to express and tell that story. And maybe one day, the door will open up, and the Chinese will be free.”
In closing, Mr. Lammers said the two were sure to take away all the enjoyment and magnificence they witnessed during the performance. “It is going to live within our hearts for a long time,” he said.
Reporting by Stacy Chen and Irene Luo
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
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.
