ST. LOUIS—Mary Sykes loves Chinese dance, acrobatics, and everything Asian. Seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts, she really made a connection to the classical Chinese dancing and the symphonic music, but what touched her heart even more was the purpose of life.
For the performers of Shen Yun “This spiritual connection is motivation for striving to excel, is the heart behind each movement of the dancer and each note of the musician. It is why audiences can feel there is something different about Shen Yun,” the company’s website states.
That spiritual connection to the purpose of life really made Ms Sykes contemplate the idea that we were put here for a reason, that we are imperfect beings, but we strive for perfection, and we have the ability of creating and making things beautiful.
Ms. Sykes, a retired nurse, attended an evening performance of Shen Yun with her daughter Ronatta, a preschool nurse, on Feb 12 at the Peabody Opera House.
Although her daughter had seen Shen Yun before, Ms. Sykes had been dying to see it for years.
“So coming here, it only enlightened me,” she said.
Despite the evil in the world or how bad we are treated at times, Ms. Sykes was reminded of that universal truth that we should be humble and treat all others with respect no matter their race or culture because we’re all human beings.
She was left with the idea that “all the human beings are one family, and to love and … to be able to not to worry about being hurt or harmed” was something very important for her.
Ms. Sykes felt the performance gave her a reassured sense of hope. She explained, “I think that everybody wants, no matter who they are, the hope for … something other than this—it’s got to be better.”
She felt that the spiritual aspect of the performance truly resonated with her own set of beliefs, particularly the idea of a creator who descends to the Earth to offer salvation. “I am thinking it’s really good,” she said, but clarified that nowadays it is very difficult to differentiate the truth from the lies.
According to Shen Yun’s website, “Throughout history almost every culture looked toward the divine for inspiration. Art was meant to uplift, bringing joy to both the people who created and experienced it. It is this principle that drives Shen Yun performers and their art.”
Reporting by Sally Sun and Andrew Darin
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
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.
