CLEVELAND—“It was an amazing cultural experience of the Chinese culture,” said Mr. Don Wedding II. He was referring to 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture as presented by Shen Yun Performing Arts at Cleveland’s State Theatre.
“We brought the whole family, six of us and my father, the children’s grandfather. Everyone enjoyed it,” said Mr. Wedding II, who is an engineer.
“It was beautiful dancing. It was so well done, very well put together!” he said.
His wife, Katherine said, “We loved being able to bring the whole family to the show.”
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and it virtues through the performing arts—a culture almost completely destroyed by communist rule. But based in New York, Shen Yun is now able to present beloved myths, legends, and its history, from ancient times to the present.
“It’s good for the kids to see the Chinese culture, and to know about Shen Yun not being able to perform in China. It’s interesting for them to know that other cultures have different ways of performing,” said Mrs. Wedding. Their eldest son is 13, and the younger of the two daughters is 5.
The children’s grandfather, Don Wedding, a University of Toledo professor of business and patent law, drove from Toledo, Ohio to be with them. Being a regular at the Detroit Opera House, he plans to see Shen Yun again there next week.
His grandson, Don Wedding III, stated that since his granddad “always brings us to plays, we figured we would bring him to this one.”
Shen Yun consists of some 20 mini-dramas of Classical Chinese dance, orchestral music and short opera-style soloists.
“The art is so artistic. The culture is wonderful,” said the senior Wedding. “The precision of the dances has really surprised me. It’s just so artistic and so delicate.”
Mr. Wedding enjoyed the performance enough to tell others about Shen Yun. “I will talk this up among people, and tell them how nice it is and how it is an experience. It’s a very unusual artistic event. The precision of the dancing is what was wonderful and very beautiful.”
He also enjoyed the introduction to each performance made by the bi-lingual English and Chinese emcees. “It was nice having the emcees come out between each act and talk. So it was very nice, very different.”
“I know something about Chinese history and culture. I can understand what they were doing, and I hope this second time I see it [in Detroit], that I'll understand it better,” he said.
His grandson followed with: “I really liked the show. It made me understand Chinese culture a little bit more. I had barely any understanding of it before, so I understand it a little bit more now. I hope that, like my grandpa said, that I'll understand it better.”
“I liked seeing the mythology and the stories,” said Mrs. Wedding.
Like his father, Mr. Wedding II, recommends the show. “We’ll tell everyone that it’s a wonderful show. When it comes by next year, we will very likely see it again.”
He concluded, “We really did learn a lot. It was a really enjoyable experience!”
Reporting by Valerie Avore, NTD Television, and Cat Rooney
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.
