BERKELEY, Calif.—Victor Estevez has watched Shen Yun Performing Arts every year for five years.
“I come back every year because it’s like a recharge [of] my spirit and myself,” said Estevez, national sales director of a catering company in the San Francisco Bay Area. “[It’s] recharging my batteries.”
Positive Energy
Estevez said the performance’s positive energy invigorates his body, mind and spirit, and keeps him coming back for more. This energy is emitted from the dancers, music, as well as all other elements that make up the performance, he said.“All the positive energy is in the show,” Estevez said.
Indeed, the performers and musicians in Shen Yun are able to bring this kind of positive energy because it seems to be inherent to the art forms.
“[It] helps you to relax and to think about [a] better future,” he said.
Spiritual Connections
The sales director said he also enjoyed being able to learn about the culture, history, and spiritual dimension of China’s long history.Estevez said beyond the beauty of what he saw, he was also bringing with him “part of the history of the religion, and understanding some of the spiritual moments that Chinese culture has.”
The 5,000-year ancient Chinese civilization was built upon belief in the divine. Shen Yun Performing Arts seeks to revive this divinely-inspired culture by depicting myths, legends, celestial paradises, and divine beings on stage.
The stories told through dance showed this spirituality in divine worlds, mystical beings, and even the act of meditation.
Estevez said he understood meditation to be a big part of Chinese culture.
That is indeed the case. Meditation has traditionally been part of Buddhist religions in China and other countries, used as a means to achieve spiritual elevation and enlightenment.
Today, the spiritual practice Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, includes meditation exercises. It also teaches practitioners to improve their moral character by living under the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Many of the artists practice Falun Dafa themselves.
However, because the Chinese communist regime persecutes the practice, Shen Yun Performing Arts is not allowed to perform in Mainland China.
“It should be allowed everywhere in the world,” he said.
Estevez implored everyone to go see the show, saying it was beautiful and informative.“But the most important part [is] you are gonna feel the positive energy of everybody. The spiritual connection between you and the dancers is there,” he said.
With reporting by NTD Television and Cathy He.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time and has covered audience reactions since the company’s inception in 2006.