NEW YORK—Ray Lopez, a graphic designer, said he was transported through time by Shen Yun Performing Arts, after seeing the company perform New York’s Lincoln Center on Saturday evening.
“It is a journey through the centuries,” he said. “It is a wonderful experience, something that you do not come across nowadays. It was an enlightening experience.”
New York-based Shen Yun formed with the mission to revive the true, traditional Chinese culture, after the culture was nearly destroyed by more than 60 years of communist rule.
“For 5,000 years divine culture flourished in the land of China,” states the company’s website. “Humanity’s treasure was nearly lost, but through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is bringing back this glorious culture.”
Mr. Lopez expressed that experience that Shen Yun’s performance conveyed important principles, such as love, understanding, and togetherness.
“It is a wonderful show, a beautiful experience,” he said.
“It is for everybody to enjoy,” he said.
A Fantastic Way to Learn About Chinese Culture
Josephine Jenno, an editor at Marketsensus Research and Innovation, said that Shen Yun was a fantastic way to learn about the Chinese culture.
But she expressed displeasure over the fact that Shen Yun cannot currently perform in China.
“I think it is sad people don’t have those freedoms wherever they might live in the world,” she said.
Several dances in Shen Yun take the audience to present-day China, including portraying the persecution of the meditation practice Falun Gong, which is based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
The practice has helped over 100 million Chinese people return to the essence of Chinese culture but has been targeted by the communist regime since 1999; however, its practitioners have undertaken peaceful resistance to the countless injustices the regime has perpetrated, according to Shen Yun’s website.
‘Their spirit of compassion and tolerance manifest the very essence of China’s 5,000-year-old divine culture,” it explains.
Ms. Jenno said that it’s important to remember the true situation in modern China.
“I think it is easy to forget with the economic march forward that China is making that a lot of people don’t have freedom there,” she said.
Reporting by Ivan Pentchoukov and Ryan Jeffries
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is performing at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center through April 28.
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.
