“I like the flow, the way they (dancers) were flowing together and the overall impression was one of aesthetic of beauty, grace, but also power. Spiritual power.”
“To me its very universal spirituality. It’s a universal spirituality. Without being denominational in any kind of way.
“Its very open, very open-hearted, very gracious and welcoming and kind.”
“There’s a political statement that’s being made here, which is powerful. [We heard] the baby’s cry (”A Child’s Choice“ dance)? Its almost as if the communists were stomping out that breath of life. That beautiful, that young burst of life that is sort of like spring time, when the flowers are blooming and everything is opening up. To me spirituality is about opening the heart. Opening the heart to the broader and more beautiful aspects of being alive.”
“[The spirituality] comes through beautifully [in Shen Yun], and it’s Chinese but its also universal. It’s universal, and you see a part of China that we don’t often know about. I remember my mom used to live in San Francisco, and I am a meditator. I would get up early in the morning to meditate, and then I'd go for a walk and in the park. People would be out there doing morning Tai Chi, and it was so very beautiful. Just to see the people out there early in San Francisco, early in the morning, it was very beautiful. And it seems that that’s a part of the Chinese culture that we don’t know about very much these days, and this [performance] brings it out.”
“It connects American culture to the Chinese culture, the traditional Chinese culture, historically, which is so beautiful, and so rich, and so filled with aesthetic. There’s an aesthetic here that just speaks to the heart and opens the heart in a spiritual way.
“It’s very universal. It speaks to all humanity, and that’s what we need to hear in this world today, because this world is very divided. The world is very polarized right now. Polarized. The current political reality is very divided. Very partisan. And this opens the heart and is an inclusive kind of spirituality that I think is very important for today. It’s an extremely important message.
“I think the hardest thing for people in this world today is to build bridges across our differences because we’re so divided, and there’s so much enmity and there’s so much hatred and distress and division, and it’s tearing the world apart.
At the same time, there’s a great promise because the world is interconnected. Economically and also in terms of the environment because we all breathe the same air, we walk on the same ground, it’s the same earth, water is so important today. So, to me, this is all about the dancers, all of that connected on what brings us together as human beings. Such rich diversity. Although it’s very traditionally Chinese, the story of the Chinese is also very universal.
“I would recommend it (Shen Yun) to all my friends. It’s uplifting, it’s captivating, it’s beautiful, it’s aesthetically engaging, and it opens the heart.
