AUSTIN, Texas—“We sat there together throughout the whole thing, going ’this is soul elevating,'” said artist Andrea Keen.
Andrea Keen, painter, and Lyanne Greystoke, resiliency coach, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts together at The Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas on Jan. 8.
“The epitome of beauty in life,” said Ms. Greystone.
“The music was absolutely inspirational,” said Ms. Keen, “the combination with the music, the color, the coordination, the costuming and the set design … it was perfection, absolute perfection!”
‘Out of This World’
Larry Mathis, retired theatre director, and wife, Terry Mathis, speech-language pathologist, also attended Shen Yun for the first time at The Long Center for the Performing Arts at in Austin on Jan. 8.
“The dancing and choreography is just out of this world,” said Mr. Mathis.
“I am fascinated by not only the beauty of the show but particularly interested in the technical aspect of the show,” he added, “the patent on the screen technology is just stunning, it’s just a visual delight to watch!”
“The way they just incorporate the dancing choreography with the jumping into the screen is just mesmerizing … so well done that it really grabs you and really brings you into the whole theme.”
Having researched and directed a play on the Cambodia killing fields, sites where more than 1 million people were killed from the communist Khmer Rouge regime’s genocide, Mr. Mathis was particularly moved by the dances that depict modern China, under communist rule.
Shen Yun presents story-based dances depicting the persecution of Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, a meditation and spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a persecution against the practice in 1999, and adherents have since been subjected to unprecedented imprisonment, torture, and abuse.
“That one was just so moving and it’s such a tragedy that the people of China aren’t allowed to see [Shen Yun].”
Mrs. Mathis said, “It’s so sad that the people of China do not get to experience their culture and their spiritual heritage.”
