LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Roger Rigney and Mary Lynn Arnold traveled about 50 miles from Elizabethtown to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at Louisville’s Kentucky Center’s Whitney Hall on March 22. They were glad they came, “It was a great pleasurable experience,” Mr. Rigney said.
New York-based Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by artists seeking to bring back the traditions and virtues of ancient China.
“Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture,” according to the company’s website.
“I thought it was beautiful, the colors, and just the music and everything is really beautiful, the dance,” said Ms. Arnold, who is in sales at Altec Industries Inc.
Mr. Rigney owns his own law firm and he also enjoyed the dance, the colors of the costume and backdrops, and most notably, the music.
“I really, really enjoyed that—especially the Chinese instruments—because where I live, you don’t hear that very often,” he said of the orchestra.
“A Western philharmonic orchestra plays the foundation, while traditional Chinese instruments lead the melodies. The sound produced is uniquely pleasing to the ear,” the website states.
The evening was interesting to Mr. Rigney from another perspective. “Ever since I have been alive, … China has been under communist rule, so it seems as if to me it’s been a closed society, and you don’t learn a lot about it growing up in this country,” he said. Yet he learned that “they have a very vibrant and colorful history.”
He also learned about spirituality of the Chinese: “I think despite some great differences in all religions, I think at the core, they are all basically the same, and it’s heaven and earth and doing good deeds.”
“I just thought it was just beautiful; the dance was very very pretty,” Ms. Arnold said.
Reporting by Valerie Avore and Sharon Kilarski
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
