SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun’s Revival of Traditional Culture ‘One of the Greatest Things That Could Happen in Humanity’s History,’ Says Theatergoer

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Shen Yun’s Revival of Traditional Culture ‘One of the Greatest Things That Could Happen in Humanity’s History,’ Says Theatergoer
Devon Martin and Jessica Murphy attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Canada, on March 16, 2023. Lily Yu/The Epoch Times

EDMONTON, Canada—It is not every day that one sheds tears of happiness, but every now and then, an opportunity arises for such an occasion. Said opportunity descended upon massage therapists Devon Martin and Jessica Murphy when they watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on March 16.

During the intermission, the couple said that they were prepared to shed more happy tears in the performance’s second half.

“Absolutely stunning and emotional,” said Mr. Martin. “It’s just so beautiful. … It just makes me feel things in an absolutely positive way. I was actually tearing up a few times, which is very nice.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Now with eight equally sized companies that tour the world simultaneously, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture.
Mr. Martin was highly appreciative of Shen Yun’s mission.
“I think that would be one of the greatest things that could happen in humanity’s history,” he said. “It’s a shame that it was actually almost wiped off the earth so many times, actually. The show actually is a great way to …  show this ancient art that I’ve never seen before in my life. I find it very stunning and beautiful.”
Mr. Martin said that he could see how important spirituality was to Chinese culture through the performance.

Gift from the Heavens

According to Shen Yun’s website, the ancient Chinese people believed that their culture, deeply rooted in spiritual teachings, was divinely inspired and, therefore, a gift from the Heavens. These beliefs were abolished with the atheist communist government seized power.
One dance piece that particularly touched Ms. Murphy was a story-based dance set in modern-day China that depicted the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of followers of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

“It was very powerful, it was very beautiful, it was sad,” said Ms. Murphy. “I don’t think, visually, people get to see that kind of representation very often—what something was, to how it is now, and how it’s impacted the people. I think that gets underplayed in society today, so it’s good to see it.”

Mr. Martin and Ms. Murphy enjoyed not only the performers on stage but the musicians in Shen Yun’s live orchestra as well.

“Oh, stunning,” Mr. Martin said of the music. “Oh, my God. I got to watch the beautiful faces just play. There’s a lot of times where I stop focusing on the performance and just focus on them, and they’re doing a phenomenal job … There’s times I actually forgot it was an orchestra playing because it’s so well done, so flawless.”

The couple said that they will be recommending Shen Yun to their friends and that “as people that work in sports therapy, we can understand and appreciate how much effort and work goes into performing like that and how flawlessly they’re doing it.”

“They are stunningly beautiful to watch,” said Mr. Martin.

Reporting by Lily Yu and Wandi Zhu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.

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