WASHINGTON—Adora Owei adored seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts, the New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company that is reviving the lost traditional Chinese culture. Ms. Owei, a marketing executive, saw the show at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on Friday, March 23. She had only good things to say—many of them.
“I think it’s brilliant. And beneath, it went far beyond my expectations. It has some spiritual aspect to it. There was a deeper meaning to the storyline. It talks about the truth, it talks about the Lord, and it talks about nature,” she said. “It was truly a beautiful experience for me,” she said.
Ms. Owei came to the performance because she is interested in the arts and had a curiosity about Chinese culture that was waiting to be quenched. Shen Yun, which draws on 5,000 years of Chinese culture, delivered on that, she indicated in the course of the discussion.
The cultural elements were not just about phenomena on the surface, but were pregnant with deeper meaning. “It’s not obvious, but if you pay attention you can tell it’s about the truth, and there’s a deeper meaning to what is presented. It talks about super natural beings, reincarnation; it talks about the truth that exists in creation,” Ms. Owei said.
“For my spiritual belief, [Shen Yun] talks about the Almighty, it talks about the Lord,” she said, translating her thoughts about the show into language she is familiar with. “And it’s a warning to mankind that they ought to be aware of the reason for being here, to take advantage of the truth and go home some day.”
The vehicle that these ideas were presented through—Shen Yun’s dances, the orchestra, the costumes, the backdrop—also did not escape Ms. Owei’s careful attention.
“For me, everything came together, played in beautifully. The women dressed as ladies should be dressed. They were proper, which is how we should be as women. Everything played in beautifully, including the natural scenery,” she said, referring to the landscape vistas frequently shown on the background.
“And the songs were, oh, breathtaking, truly breathtaking,” she said. “Especially the opera singers. I was reading the words and they were so uplifting.”
Ms. Owei came to the performance with Seth, who did not wish to provide his surname. The two will be married in May.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at The Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C., through April 1.
For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Friends Read Free