BUFFALO, N.Y.—“Well, I didn’t really know what to expect,” said John Wiencek, a family lawyer who saw Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time on Sunday, April 24, 2016.
But he was pleasantly surprised and touched to see the performers not only dance, but also highlight present-day suppression in China through mini-dramatic performances.
“All of this is very new and surprising to me,” he said, “I think it is a wonderful show.”
Mr. Wiencek took his wife Jennifer Wiencek to see Shen Yun at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, N.Y., as a belated Christmas gift. Mrs. Wiencek, who has wanted to see Shen Yun for several years, was not surprised by what she saw. She’s wanted to see the New York-based company perform since first seeing it advertised about five years ago when she was visiting Tampa, Fla., where her mother lives.
“I came home from Florida, just for the show,” she said.
Different aspects of the performances equally moved the Wienceks.
Mr. Wiencek liked an ethnic folk dance from the Himilayas, and was particularly moved by a dramatic piece depicting a husband and wife persecuted for their beliefs in a spiritual discipline called Falun Gong.
“It is a spirit of perseverance, of hope, of determination,” said Mr. Wiencek describing his understanding of the spirit of the performance.
Mrs. Wiencek praised the orchestral music. “Love the music, that is what goes to my heart, the music,” she said.
The music for every Shen Yun performance around the world is played by an array of musicians who blend unique Eastern instruments with a Western symphony orchestra base.
Mrs. Wiencek actually didn’t expect a live orchestra. “I was under the impression that it was just going to be a soundtrack,” she said. But getting a bird’s eye view of the orchestra from her seat was “just magical,” Mrs. Wiencek said.
After seeing the multitude of instruments played by the orchestra, Mrs. Wiencek said her heart appreciated all the different types of music. In particular, the two-stringed erhu, an ancient Chinese instrument often compared to a violin, got “right to [her] soul.”
Reporting by Sherry Dong and Arleen Richards
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.
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.
