SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Beautiful Gift for Mother and Young Daughter

Dec 24, 2015
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Shen Yun Beautiful Gift for Mother and Young Daughter
Michelle Jimenez and her daugther at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Houston's Jones Hall on Dec. 23, 2015. (Stacy Chen/Epoch Times)

HOUSTON—As a birthday gift, Michelle Jimenez saw Shen Yun Performing Arts with her daughter at the Jones Hall before Christmas and left with the urge to bring more of her family with her.

One of her daughters dances with the Houston Ballet, and another has been studying Mandarin for four years. A primarily classical Chinese dance performance that covers all 5,000 years of Chinese civilization seemed a perfect fit. Ms. Jimenez said she will buy tickets to the performance for her mother as well so she can also enjoy it.

At her young age, Ms. Jimenez’s daughter already has an appreciation for Chinese culture, learning Mandarin. Ms. Jimenez felt the performance would be educational, and was delighted with the emcees’ explanations of each dance and the storylines. Some parts were cute and comical, and others stunning and beautiful. The emcees translated and explained different parts of the performance, and even explained that the performance Ms. Jimenez and her daughter saw on stage couldn’t be seen in today’s China as it is under the rule of the communist regime. Shen Yun is based in New York, where it enjoys artistic freedom.

“She loves the culture, and she’s loving it, and we are loving it,” Ms. Jimenez said.

“It’s great, it’s beautiful, and we can follow along.”

Ms. Jimenez herself could connect and find common values in the new culture as well. She explained that she has attended many ballet performances that are really beautiful, but a Shen Yun performance is more than just a beautiful performance.

“I can definitely relate more to this than anything. You get a little bit more of the spirituality which you don’t get in ballets and other kinds of things, and I like it,” she said.

Shen Yun is rich with principles and virtues from ancient Chinese culture, originating from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, forming the essence of traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun aims to revive this divinely-inspired culture.

“We are lucky to see a performance like this,” Ms. Jimenez said.

Reporting by Stacy Chen and Catherine Yang

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.

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.