HONOLULU—With the first rise of the curtains, professor Russell Yost was moved to tears, as Shen Yun Performing Arts was “so beautiful, just overwhelming.”
“Tears came to my eyes; actually, it was just so incredible,” Mr. Yost said at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu May 4.
“There is a higher order; there is a higher calling, and I think the Chinese have illustrated that very, very nicely,” Mr. Yost said of New York-based Shen Yun’s revival of traditional culture.
Being a spiritual person, Mr. Yost said he connected with the “divinely inspired” aspect of Chinese culture, which is said to have been passed down by the gods.
“I like that part very much. I identify that’s one of the best things about humanity,” Mr. Yost said. “That we realize that there’s more than just us.”
Mr. Yost, who attended the performance with a visiting professor, said he was fascinated by the depth of the culture brought alive by dance.
“I think that’s really tremendous,” Mr. Yost said. “I think that’s one thing that’s not really appreciated by so many of us here—that there is such a diversity of cultures, topography, geography.”
“I learned so much,” Mr. Yost said. “And yet it’s so beautiful, and it’s so well done.”
Shen Yun performs classical Chinese dance as well as ethnic and folk dances, such as the Mongolian Bowl Dance and the Bai ethnic dance.
“The quality of the dance is just world-class. It is really, really very nice,” Mr. Yost said.
“I particularly like the different regions representing the dance, and the culture of the different regions,” Mr. Yost said.
“The educational part is very nice because it illustrates the different regions,” Mr. Yost said. “It’s so beautiful, like the planes of vast grasslands of inner Mongolia.”
Reporting by Alex Ma and Catherine Yang
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Shen Yun Performing Arts is performing at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall through May 5.
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.
