LOUISVILLE, Ky.—“I grew up in the years of solidarity,” said Polish art promoter, Wojtek Pilczynski. “And actually, I saw the tanks, communist tanks, on the streets of Warsaw. And I saw what was happening. I saw how young people wanted to drop the red dragon. You know the reference to the red dragon … a reference to communism. It was just absolutely incredible to see young people have such a passion to do something about it.”
Mr. Pilczynski was prompted to speak about his youth under the communist regime after watching Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company—a company dedicated to resuscitating traditional Chinese arts, after it was nearly destroyed under years of communist rule.
“As a young student at the time, living in the center of Warsaw, and seeing people standing in front of the tanks, it just reminded me of so many different things that happened in China,” he said.
Through music and dance, New York-based Shen Yun brings to life 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese civilization. Principally through classical Chinese dance, legends, myths, and even history are presented in short dances and songs.
“Sometimes, people don’t understand how much power the artistic expression can have because people in theaters all over the world can sit and be inspired without being preached [to]. Not by politicians and all the plastic that’s all around it. It’s just a pure form of expression and beauty, so people can actually take it and understand it in a different way. So it’s delivered in a softer way, but the message is very strong.”
In addition to presenting stories and legends of ancient China, some of the mini-dance dramas tell of repression of faith by the communist rule today.
“What [Shen Yun is] doing is just amazing, and I hope they go all over the world and everybody sees them, and everybody gets inspired by what they are doing. It’s amazing, you know. And coming from people who understand: not having anything to eat and trying to change your life, and change life for your children, and just be a human being. I think it’s just spectacular.”
Mr. Pilczynski attended the performance at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, on May 1, with his friend, Katrzyna Kociomyk, who is an artist.
“When we were walking off [after] this performance, and we were saying, these are true heroes. These are true, wonderful people who are amazing, who work very, very hard to project the image.”
Although performers onstage present characters--that is images or representations, Mr. Pilczynski did not want to suggest that anything but sincerity came through in the dancers’ performance. He, therefore, continued saying: “Not the image, project the truth, not the image. That’s very, very important.”
“It’s very inspiring. It’s huge, it’s wonderful, and we‘ll never forget it. We’ll never forget it, and when the next performance comes, we’re going to be the first ones right there.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Sharon Kilarski
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
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.
