“[Shen Yun] was a superb performance,” began Donna, who also works in the identity theft protection industry. “It was exciting for me. ... My husband got this for me for my birthday so I was super excited to be here. We dressed up for it, as we always will. [The Orpheum] was a fabulous theater for my first experience, for any play actually. And, this is superb. I got to learn a lot, which I was very excited about. Gave me more empathy for what’s going on in China. So, it was really super. Thank you.”
The empathy for China that Donna appreciated came out in pieces such as “Abetting the Wicked,” a storytelling dance that is one of the 20 or so vignettes in a Shen Yun performance. The piece is about two brothers who find themselves on opposite sides of a persecution that is now happening in China against spiritual practitioners and portrays the amazing compassion and perseverance that many believers have toward those persecuting them.
Jeff, a purchasing manager for an electrical contractor in Phoenix, seemed to enjoy Shen Yun just as much as Donna did.
“Loved the performance, loved the energy,” he said. “Loved the passion of the performers. You can tell they love what they do on the stage. I was watching their facial expressions, always smiling. Like I said, [they] just loved what they were doing. You can tell that. Enjoyed it. I’ve been to a lot shows and this one of the few where every dancer was in sync with the others.”
“Oh, amazing!” Donna chimed in as Jeff described the dancers.
“It was poetry in motion, as the old saying goes,” Jeff said. “We really enjoyed it. Really enjoyed it. Very impactful and something I certainly will remember for the rest of my life. I’m sure we will be back for more shows.”
One of the pieces that stood out to the Meadors most is the first piece of the performance, which depicts an ancient legend about the Creator, a belief passed down throughout China’s history.
“The other thing I really loved, we both loved, was the special effects when they would come flying in and, all of a sudden, they would jump out,” Jeff said. “Those were just wonderful. That brought the show to a whole different level than what you normally see.”
The Meadors said they admired Shen Yun’s lofty mission and wished the artists even greater success in the future.
Pieces such as “Abetting the Wicked” are “exactly why this show was not allowed in China,” Jeff said. “They [the Chinese regime] would never allow a lot of truth to come out. They have to keep telling them [Chinese people] the same thing over and over and deny the Chinese people of their own culture when in fact it’s very rich and very wonderful. So I did love that aspect of it. And who knows, maybe one day they’ll be able to go over to perform [in China.]”
