SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘I Would Recommend the Show to Everybody,’ Says Theatregoer After Seeing Shen Yun

Feb 12, 2023
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‘I Would Recommend the Show to Everybody,’ Says Theatregoer After Seeing Shen Yun
Vincente Hernandez attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Plaza Theatre, on Feb. 11, 2023. (Nancy Ma/The Epoch Times)
EL PASO, Texas—Vincente Hernandez, a parts manager at Subaru, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Plaza Theatre on Feb. 11.

“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” said Mr. Hernandez. “It is an awesome show. It’s … absolutely exhilarating. I would recommend the show to everybody.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists, and quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Its goal is to revive traditional Chinese culture, and to show its audiences the beauty of China before communism.
One of the story-based dances in Shen Yun’s program of dance vignettes depicted modern-day China, where the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of followers of Falun Dafa—a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, tolerance—is taking place. Mr. Hernandez said that he was saddened to learn of the persecution.

“[It] was very, very sad to me,” he said. “That was a little too overwhelming. It’s very sad to think that that is actually still occurring.”

Mr. Hernandez said that it is very important for Shen Yun to be spreading the truth of what is happening in China.

“It has to be revealed,” he said, referring to the persecution. “It has to be dealt with. It can no longer go on. It’s too demoralizing for the Chinese people to have to have to go through something that traumatic after having such a long history of beautiful arts and beautiful culture; to be almost decimated, in a sense.”

Referring to the depiction of the Chinese Communist Party’s dealings, he said, “I think that they are definitely the showcase of what none of us want to be attributed to.”

According to Shen Yun’s website, China was once known as the “Land of the Divine,” and the ancient Chinese believed their culture was a gift from the heavens. Traditional Chinese culture is deeply rooted in the spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. These spiritual elements are reflected in Shen Yun’s performance; the opening piece depicts divine beings following the Creator down to the Earth to establish Chinese civilization.

Mr. Hernandez said he could connect with the concept of a Creator.

“I feel very connected,” he said. “We have to get back to understanding what it is to be part of the Creator.”

Mr. Hernandez also said that what Shen Yun presented was relevant to today’s society.

“I think that seeing what’s going on, what China is going through, and what American could fall into, into that Marxist, communist trap. I think they (Shen Yun) are presenting it to us and we have to react, we have to not allow something like that to infect the rest of the world,” Mr. Hernandez said.

To Shen Yun’s performers, Mr. Hernandez would like to say, “Keep it up. More people have got to see it … That flame has got to be sparked in the audience, and it has to continue.”

Reporting by Nancy  Ma and Wandi Zhu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.

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