SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Audience: Spirituality Very Important Part of China

Mar 17, 2015
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Shen Yun Audience: Spirituality Very Important Part of China

SAN ANTONIO—For Chris McCool, Monday night was his third time seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts, the internationally-acclaimed classical Chinese dance and music company.

Mr. McCool, a businessman, had previously seen Shen Yun in other cities. On Monday evening, Shen Yun’s second night in San Antonio, Mr. McCool wanted to bring a friend to enjoy the show at the Tobin Centre for the Performing Arts.

“I enjoy it considerably,” Mr. McCool said about his experience watching the performance.

“The sets are pretty amazing, and the costuming is phenomenal. And of course, the dance—I love the dance, the precision; and I enjoy Chinese history, I think it is really interesting.”

New York-based Shen Yun has made it its mission to revive China’s divinely-inspired culture. Shen Yun’s performances show both the the beauty of China’s rich history and culture, as well as the deep meanings and values ingrained the ancient culture.

“I think the Chinese history and spiritual aspect of it is a very important part of the country,” said Mr. McCool.

“Every country has its tradition; every country has its own spiritual beliefs. China is very much deep rooted, more so than most cultures, because of 5,000 years of history, and most countries don’t have that.”

‘Very Enlightening’

Frank and Anya Kuylen at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Tobin Centre for the Performing Arts, on March 16, 2015. (Stacy Chen/Epoch Times)
Frank and Anya Kuylen at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Tobin Centre for the Performing Arts, on March 16, 2015. (Stacy Chen/Epoch Times)

Frank and Anya Kuylen were at loss of words to describe their admiration of Shen Yun.

“It was extremely good, especially the opera,” said Mr. Kuylen, a logistics manager at U.S. Army.

Expanding further on his experience of Shen Yun’s award-winning vocalists, who sing Chinese lyrics using the bel canto style, Mr. Kuylen said, “It actually kind of put you in a trance, just to listen to her voice, and understanding with the translation in the back.”

The text of the lyrics sung by the vocalists are projected on the backdrop in both Chinese and English during the performance.

“It is very beautiful.”

Ms. Kuylen, a nurse, said the lyrics were very powerful.

“It is so beautiful and seeing the words, and reading the words with it ...The whole thing is very deep and meaningful,” she said.

From the performance, Ms. Kuylen said she could see the importance of spirituality in Chinese culture, and values such as doing good deeds and fighting evil. She said she learned a lot from the show.

“It was very beautiful, the colors, the music, the orchestra…It was very educational,” she said.

“I am even learning how ancient [classical Chinese] dance is, and how much people have taken from it, to the dance we have today. So actually very, very enlightening.”

“I think it is wonderful,” added Mr. Kuylen.

Reporting by Stacy Chen

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.

Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006

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