ST. LOUIS—Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company performed it’s all-new 2012 program to a sold-out show at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis on Feb. 19. Among the audience was Jeanetta Hill, a floral designer, and Nolon Hawkins, a retire police officer.
Ms. Hill was particularly touched by the colors in Shen Yun’s performance. “Beautiful-it’s wonderful! I love it. It’s full of culture, color; it’s exciting, funny, and very beautiful. I’m enjoying it,” said Ms. Hill.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is based in New York and was established in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture, according to Shen Yun’s website.
Ms. Hill, with an eye for design, and who is surrounded by a bounty of pretty flowers by profession, said she really loved “all of the beautiful colors.” Her companion, Mr. Hawkins, was overcome by the colors as well. “I’m enjoying the colors. I like the colors,” he said.
“I love it all,” said Ms. Hill. She recalled the dances Lotus Leaves and Sleeves of Silk. “I love the one when they were flowers and the long sleeves with the ladies, but you know I love it all—I do,” she said.
“A performance by Shen Yun is a presentation of traditional Chinese culture as it once was: a study in grace, wisdom, and the virtues distilled from the five millennia of Chinese civilization,” states Shen Yun’s website.
Ms. Hill also said that she felt a deeper meaning in the performance “like good versus evil, and then, of course good prevails.”
She found Shen Yun’s performance to resonate spiritually. “It talks about mankind being good, and being able to change from evil as well, so that’s what I’m getting,” said Ms. Hill. “I like it, it is human nature,” she added.
Ms. Hill said the vocalists were “beautiful—the soprano and the tenor.”
The lyrics are all original compositions, according to Shen Yun’s website. “Brimming with philosophical reflection about human life and deep layers of meaning, they traverse the boundaries of nation, race, and culture and have been fondly received and appreciated the world over.”
Reporting by Kerry Huang and Kelly Ni
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 be in Nashville for performances on Feb. 25 and 26 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.
For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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