WORCESTER, Mass.—John Pitcher, CFO of Bunker Hill Community College, was happy to have experienced the authentic Chinese culture after attending Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Hanover Theatre, where Shen Yun was performing for one weekend.
“I would say that this is a show that they should try to certainly go to if they can, it would be enriching; it would be a way to expand their cultural awareness of the world, it’s a very moving show,” said Mr. Pitcher. “I like the show very much, very much, it’s somewhat sad that this is no longer available in China.”
New York-based Shen Yun’s mission is to show China before communism through classical Chinese dance and music. For 5,000 years, concepts like reverence for the divine, and harmony between heaven, earth, and humankind formed the bedrock of Chinese civilization.
The current communist regime in China, atheist in nature, is the same one that has violently uprooted China’s spiritual traditions through campaigns like the Cultural Revolution. As such, Shen Yun is not welcome in China.
“Why can’t the Chinese enjoy their culture the same way, why does it have to be repressive there?” he said. “It’s a very good show!”
“Oh you can feel it, you can feel it; you can see it in the way that the show is uplifting,” he said. “I believe that that culture is very rich.”
‘Thousand of Years of Human Yearning’
Theresa and Jeff Cooper, professors at a local community college, had come to celebrate Mrs. Cooper’s birthday.
“As Christians, we’ve been following persecution in China. Jeff especially has been known to reach out to people who have been falsely imprisoned,” she said. “It kind of reminded me of our privilege, and those that are still being persecuted in the world, and yet, the beauty of how you share the message interwoven with laughter and, but such sadness, was just absolutely beautiful.”
“So, something certainly inspiring for me and makes me remember things I might have forgotten in the busy day of what we do for work,” she said.
“They’re very human, they’re very, they come from the heart,” he said. “From there you can connect their distant and historic things [that] hearts have been feeling for centuries, you know. They express it right out in front, in present time. You know, real-time, you’re hearing this. Thousands of years of human yearning, and loss and gain and hope.”
