TAOYUAN, Taiwan— “It’s my honor to have met Shen Yun this way,” said legislator Apollo Chen, who was the head of Cultural Arts in Taoyuan when the Arts Center was built. Mr. Chen and his wife saw Shen Yun’s show together at Taoyuan’s Arts Center on April 15, and he believed that “it’s totally worth the trip.”
Mr. Chen said that the performance “grasps the essence of Chinese tradition through the art of dance.”
Shen Yun has created a novelty, Mr. Chen thought. It combines classic Chinese dance with high-tech digital backdrops, and at the same time mixes Eastern and Western musical instruments in its live orchestra. “The attempt to combine different art forms allows its audiences to have fresh and unusual experience,” he said, “My salute to Shen Yun’s general director.”
Mr. Chen’s wife Ms. Liang Han-Yi has been practicing Buddhism for many years. She believes that Shen Yun was utterly different from the rest of the performing arts groups because its artists’ can “hold on to their belief in Chinese culture.”
She explained, “Artists in modern times want to be avant-garde. When they want to be internationally recognized, they often choose to forsake their traditions. Shen Yun, on the other hand, has the courage to uphold traditional values and is not afraid of being labeled old fashioned. Many people regard tradition as something that needs to be deserted and that is why some of us dare not openly embrace our traditions.”
Yet “Shen Yun did it. They hold on to the traditions and demonstrate great courage. I think what Shen Yun stands for is beautiful, and REAL,” Ms. Liang said.
Seeing, in Shen Yun’s story-based dances, how Falun Gong practitioners uphold their beliefs in the midst of severe persecution, Mr. Liang had a new understanding of the word “forbearance.”
“Only those with spiritual beliefs would know what it really means. One must be unwavering in a dire situation yet still be passionate about what’s worth fighting for,” he said.
“Over the years Shen Yun uses Falun Gong as a means to promote truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance and it’s their persistence that counts,” she concluded.
Reporting by Lin Hsin-Yi
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.
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.
Chinese available
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/16/4/15/n7559750.htm
