NEW YORK–Shen Yun Performing Arts dazzled New York City theatergoers with its array of dance and colors as it gave its third sold-out performance on Sunday.
After seeing the performance at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, Joel Simon, an actor in commercials and soap operas, described the performance as wonderful.
“I think it’s wonderful. Everything was perfect, wonderfully done. Very colorful, very epic, cultural. You can see [Chinese] history evolving ... over the years,” he said. “It shows me more than what I knew” about China, he added.
Shen Yun aims to revive traditional Chinese culture through classical dance and music, while placing a particular importance on spirituality and respect for the divine, according to the company’s website.
Mr. Simon also lauded the company’s original musical compositions, which are arranged for an orchestra that joins together Western classical and Chinese musical traditions.
“I think it’s wonderful—it’s the first time we’ve seen it,” he said.
His wife, Lori Simon, who works in marketing and public relations, called the performance “absolutely an amazing production.”
She noted that Shen Yun includes an angle regarding China’s current human rights situation.
“The tourist scene was very interesting,” she said, referring to the dance called, “An Unexpected Encounter.” In the scene, a father and daughter are taking photos in a park and happen upon a group practicing the spiritual discipline Falun Dafa. The police arrive and arrest the entire group. Falun Dafa is practiced freely around the world, but has been persecuted in communist China since 1999.
It evokes images of the “Tiananmen Square [massacre] and you think of being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” she added.
Based in New York, Shen Yun cannot be shown in China currently, according to the company’s website.
“We will definitely recommend it to many of our friends so they buy tickets for the rest of the month,” Mrs. Simon said.
Reporting by Joshua Philipp and Jack Phillips.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Shen Yun Performing Arts is performing at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center from April 20–28.
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.
