CHICAGO—“This has been an experience for me, a beautiful experience,” Stacy Allen said, with tears in her eyes after attending Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time. She joined the full house during the Saturday afternoon performance at the Civic Opera House.
The IT manager said she knew that she had to see Shen Yun as soon as she saw it advertised, and was so glad she did.
Referring to the drama depicted in the finale, The Opening of Heaven’s Gates, she said, “I loved that, the stories of how good triumphs over evil. We’ve lost this in our society.”
Many of the dances portray stories and scenes from the treasure trove of China’s long history and traditions.
Ms. Allen contrasted those traditional scenes with contemporary life: “It’s all about technology now, and we’ve lost touch with the real things. All the stories that related to the simplicity of life meant a lot to me, seeing that too.”
According to a news release by Shen Yun,the dance company’s mission is to revive China’s artistic tradtiions and spiritual heritage that thrived before decades of suppression under the current communist regime.
Ms. Allen said that she learned many things about traditional Chinese culture from Shen Yun.
“It’s so lovely and so beautiful,” she said.
“Oh, I’ll be back next year! Especially since it’ll be all new, every year it’s a new show, so I’m going to be a regular customer. I can’t wait until next year’s production. I’ll be watching for the website to make sure I know when Shen Yun is returning. I think they had a way you can sign up through your email, so they’ll give you an email notification.”
Reporting by Jeanmarie Lunsford.
Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform at Chicago’s Civic Opera House through April 24. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
