Dr. Sami Kawas and Ms. Anne Meyour enjoyed Shen Yun, on March 10, 2020, at the Corum of Montpellier, France. (NTD Television)
MONTPELLIER, France—On March 10, Shen Yun presented the first performance of the 2020 show at Montpellier in Occitanie, France, in an unprecedented configuration due to the Coronavirus crisis, which required that the very large number of spectators be spread in two sessions in order to adapt to the national demand for limiting the scale of cultural events.
It’s a last-minute change that the audience seems to have accepted very willingly, happy to discover Shen Yun and appreciative to the efforts of the production—and the artists—to make it possible to keep the show going and doubling their effort by doing two shows a day instead of one.
For two hours, the colors and sounds of this superb experience illuminated the Corum of Montpellier and took the audience away from the growing gloom and anxiety. During the introduction of one of the scenes of the show, the emcees reminded us that music has been one of the first forms of medicine in China. Several doctors present during the performance wanted to share their impressions with our journalists on location.
Sami Kawas says he discovered “a very ancient art, which from this ancient uniqueness communicates this art to all other countries. It is very precious because it has no borders, no ethnicity, no country: art is art. And we respect it a lot. ”
Kawas attended the performance with Anne Meyour, who was very inspired because she has long had a spiritual link to traditional Chinese culture.
“I myself am very close to religions since I have had training in this area,” she said. “Religions are omnipresent in man, and therefore, we all need this spirituality, this desire to go towards the unknown, towards what we do not know and therefore we need this, we need this strength.”
Remembering that the artists of Shen Yun do not come from China and developed their art in New York, Kawas found it very positive that they “chose a place where they could develop this without being restricted, to have the courage to revive it and to make us understand, also through their efforts, that there is hope. ”
“This creative freedom has also made music accessible to all ears. It is not only played by Chinese instruments—there are also modern Western instruments, and the combination is very successful. So we can accept it from the very first note,” Kawas astutely observed.
“The story that’s being told mentions things that we can see today, each one in our community. These are things that repeat themselves, so if you have a good understanding of history, you can understand how to solve problems in modern times that have already been solved in the past,” Kawas added.
Dr. Ikram Taleb Arrada enjoyed Shen Yun on March 10, 2020, at the Corum of Montpellier, France. (NTD Television)
Ikram Taleb Arrada, a hospital doctor, came with her daughter and said they “loved it very, very much. It’s very impressive, the performance is magical, it feels like they’re flying on stage.”
Both doctors were touched by art that “has no boundaries.” They also appreciated Shen Yun’s commitment: “Spirituality is part of this world and is an important part for many people,” said Arrada, “so yes, it speaks to us. ”
To conclude their evening, the two doctors shared their impressions with future spectators. For Arrada, “it’s a pretty magical show that you have to share as a family. ” For Kawas, “you only need a small heart to love this show. And big hearts will feel very much at ease! ”
