SAN FRANCISCO—Xue Mei, originally from Mainland China, brought her husband and daughter to attend Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company’s last of nine performances this year at the War Memorial Opera House on Jan. 12.
Xue Mei works as an executive at a high-tech company at Silicon Valley. The elegance of the Shen Yun performance made a memorable impression on her.
Xue Mei not only loves classical Chinese dance, she also practices dancing herself. “I truly loved the performance by Shen Yun. The dance from the Han Dynasty was especially exquisite,” she said.
She added, “The stage design and the use of some of the most advanced technology were simply awesome. The animated backdrop and the stage combine into one—you could hardly tell the differences between the performances by the artists and the animation on the backdrop. My husband was also in awe.”
“The live music is also quite a phenomenon. The Chinese instruments possess a unique traditional essence, or you could say beauty. When combined with Western instruments, the beauty transcended to a whole new level.”
Mr. Chen, an immigrant from China, was also in attendance on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Chen was seeing the performance for the second time. This time it was his wife who bought the tickets, as a gift for the New Year.
“Shen Yun is superb,” he said. “As a Chinese person, I think it’s a pity that such a great performance cannot been seen in China or Hong Kong. It’s my greatest hope that people from both China and Hong Kong will very soon have the opportunity to see Shen Yun.”
“Shen Yun has been instrumental in promoting classical Chinese culture,” Mr. Chen said. “We lived in China for many years and endured numerous events like the Cultural Revolution. The things that are missing for the Chinese people are honesty, compassion, and beauty. The essence of what Shen Yun is trying to present is ‘honesty,’ which is also the missing piece for Chinese people.”
He provided an example: “Many performances and arts in China are fake—even audience applause can be faked. This is something unimaginable in other parts of the world. So for the Chinese people, they desperately need ‘honesty.’”
Mr. Chen said, “The dance technique of the Shen Yun dancers is truly great—you could tell they put much effort into their fundamental training. The stories told in the performance are also great. These stories are part of the traditional Chinese culture. I heard them when I was little.”
He strongly urges China to allow Shen Yun to perform there. “For something so wonderful, China should allow them to come back, paving the way for the Chinese people to really open up their hearts and minds,” he said.
“Having seen Shen Yun, I can appreciate its educational values,” Chen said. “Falun Gong is very good. During the 60 years of the CCP rule, it forced its will on anybody. But if the CCP wanted to impose its will on Falun Gong, I truly believe that would be impossible, because every Falun Gong practitioner has faith in his or her heart.”
Reporting by Zhou Rong and Frank Fang.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
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.
