NEW YORK—The David H. Koch Theater pulsed with excitement as the audience awaited Shen Yun Performing Arts on March 29. Louis and Diane Salerno found much to enjoy and reflect upon.
Mr. Salerno, an art dealer in New York, appreciated how Shen Yun presented the beauty of traditional Chinese culture.
“I think it’s very enjoyable, very nice. It’s very colorful, and great dancing. The music is nice. We’re enjoying it,” he said.
Mr. Salerno said Shen Yun helps theatergoers “to understand that it’s the original Chinese dance from many years ago and how it continued on into the future. I think it was quite good. It was moving. There were some scenes that were very moving.”
He was touched by “The Steadfast Heart” dance piece and how the characters in the dance stood against communism.
According to the program, “It tells of people who practice Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong), the meditation discipline guided by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Falun Dafa practitioners could once be found in parks across China. But in 1999, the communist regime, fearing the practice’s popularity, launched a brutal campaign to wipe it out.”
Mrs. Salerno said the dance pieces reinforced her faith in the Divine.
Her husband agreed. “The struggle against communism is an interesting part of it, and again, the sense of the divine. The movement was very spiritual. It’s very spiritual, very divine,” he said.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive the values and traditions of China before communism. Two emcees who speak in English and Mandarin introduce the dance stories. People say that they can feel a lot of things behind the dancing movement.
“It’s very expressive,” Mr. Salerno said. “It communicates the idea that they’re trying to express. Having the narrators on the stage, I think they give you their takes to set the scene. It was very helpful.”
Mr. Salerno said he felt inspired that “we need to learn more about the Chinese culture and about the history, and maybe even visit China someday. It gives you an appreciation for that.”
The couple spoke of a Chinese neighbor currently visiting China who wants them to come. Mr. Salerno said Shen Yun “reinforces the beauty of the land and the culture.”
“And it makes you want to connect with your faith, too,” Mrs. Salerno said.
After the emcees explained the meaning of Shen Yun’s name as “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” Mr. Salerno said, “The beauty of the divine. Yes. You can sense that. You can feel that. It’s all throughout the acting and the story and the dancing.”
Shen Yun features singers who sing in Chinese while the lyrics in English are projected on the backdrop.
“The song was beautiful,” Mr. Salerno said. “The soprano sings that beautiful song with the words on the screen. Life is more than just money and possessions. That was very interesting.”
The Salernos believe Shen Yun’s message is very relevant for the modern world and the universal values present in every culture.
“It’s needed,” Mr. Salerno said and how it reflects on the meaning life. “It’s an important show. I think it’s educational. It provokes thought. It makes you think about the world.”
“It makes you get reflective and think about things you might not ordinarily think about,” he said. “It makes you contemplate the purpose of life.”
“The costumes are beautiful. The music was beautiful. You get a real sense of the culture and the history. I really felt all the performers did a wonderful job. It was very colorful and very visual. So we enjoyed it,” Mr. Salerno said.
