Haythe, who has seen the performance at least three times, said Shen Yun magnificently portrays the spirit of the divine—which is central to genuine traditional Chinese culture and its people.
China was once known as Shen Zhou, or divine land, a term that describes a time where mortals and deities co-existed as well as an old belief that the divine transmitted a rich culture to the people of the earth, according to the company website.
New York-based Shen Yun’s mission is to bring back China’s 5,000 years of semi-divine culture to the modern world. Traditional concepts such as “respect the heavens to know one’s destiny,” and “man and nature must be in balance” gathered deep meaning over thousands of years of history and are the basis of many of the performance’s story-based dances.
The ancient Chinese were also heavily influenced by Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, which they followed to lead moral and upright lives, according to the company.
“What they are saying is the culture is basically giving the message that we all have to keep, which means we work for harmony,” she added. “This is the way to unite the globe.”
Moreover, Haythe said he particularly liked the overall message the New York-based company was trying to depict in its last piece, “The Final Moment.”“I like the fact that it was all tied together at the end, how we all come from the divine, and we are destined to return to the divine if we live the right lives here on Earth,” he said.
Apart from the Shen Yun’s message, Haythe applauded the company for delivering a captivating performance.“I thought that was an extremely dynamic and beautiful and harmonious way to present the whole performance,” he said.
“The theater is the willing suspension of disbelief, and this you were just almost taken to a new level of disbelief, and it was so gracious, and there was such harmony and you felt such peace, it was just magnificent,” he added.
With reporting by Sherry Dong.
