Shen Yun’s Beauty Good for the Heart and Spirit, Says Silicon Valley Executive
Dec 28, 2021
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John Cummings at the Shen Yun performance at the Center for the Performing Arts, in San Jose, on Dec. 27, 2021. (NTD Television)
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Audience members are filling the seats of Shen Yun Performing Arts performances during its current tour despite the difficulties the pandemic has brought.
John Cummings, a business management executive in Silicon Valley, expressed his appreciation for the educational aspect of New York-based Shen Yun and its portrayal of Chinese culture.
“You don’t realize what’s going on in the world so much. You can’t necessarily believe everything you see on TV,” he said.
“I’ve been to China a lot of times. And I’ve seen a number of actual shows over there, a lot different than this, and [this is] clearly not the message you would see in China,” Mr. Cummings said.
Shen Yun puts on an all-new performance every year, showing the beauty of Chinese civilization before communism took over.
“The history and the beauty of China is really impressive. And there is a lot of history before communism,” he said.
“It’s fantastic that [Shen Yun] can bring such talented people to share their stories with us and make the world aware,” he said. “I was really impressed that there are seven [companies] going on all the time around the world. We can all learn a lot from that. So it’s great to see the exposure of the world to the Chinese history.”
Mr. Cummings said the beauty and history portrayed by Shen Yun really came through.
“Beauty is good for everyone. It’s good for your heart. It’s good for your spirit. It’s a good education for my kids, who are here today,” he said.
‘Made Us Happy’
Larson Parker, a real estate developer, brought his daughter to the performance to experience a different culture.
“I think [the performance is] a celebration of all types of people and culture and the sense that everything, everybody, everywhere has something to add to the world and that we’re more alike than we are different,” Mr. Parker said.
Parker Larson and his daughter at the Shen Yun performance at the Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 27, 2021. (Linda Jiang/The Epoch Times)
He added that despite the pandemic, being among people is still very important.
“We’re going on two years now of a very different world, existence, and life, and these kinds of things, to get out and to be around other people and to see performances like this, it’s very valuable,” he said. “Part of that, of course, was being with my daughter; it was fun to watch it, it felt good and made us happy.”
‘It Was Beautiful’
Nora and Ernesto Segovia were also among the audience taking in Shen Yun on Dec. 27.
The Segovias said the pandemic had brought about many uncertainties, but they decided to come and experience Shen Yun and enjoy its performance.
Nora and Ernesto Segovia at the Shen Yun performance at the Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 27, 2021. (Linda Jiang/The Epoch Times)
“It was beautiful. The choreography, the costumes, the music. It was very soothing. It was gorgeous,“ Ms. Segovia said. ”We’ve seen hundreds of shows, but this was different.”
Reporting by NTD Television, Linda Jiang, and Maria Han.
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.
