SEATTLE—Now that Randy Bourne is no longer serving as assistant chief of Police in Kent, Washington, he’s been soaking up culture in the theater. On Saturday, the retired officer said he felt “happy” to see a group of young Chinese dancers saying no to communism in their culture to celebrate their true culture onstage.
“I think traditional China would be much preferable over the current times,” Mr. Bourne told The Epoch Times from the theater after watching New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts. “I loved it. I'd love to visit China, but I probably wouldn’t go right now.”
He added he’s traveled “all over the world.”
Tonight, the artists displayed pageantry at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.
Shen Yun has become world-renowned for its performances of classical Chinese dance. Many patrons who have fallen in love with it, like Loki Patro, return each year to see all-new choreography.
During today’s performance, the audience watched and listened as Shen Yun expressed its message. The emcees mentioned that Shen Yun cannot perform in China. Several dance segments featured acts from modern China, showing communist officers persecuting practitioners of the faith Falun Gong, which teaches people to be truthful, compassionate, and tolerant.
While Shen Yun is a tour-de-force in production value—it seamlessly merges ancient artistry with high-tech visual effects, led by a live orchestra—the company also wins praise for keeping alive the rich spiritual roots of traditional Chinese culture.
“That’s one of the reasons that attracted me to come see the show in the first place,” Terry Haige, a retired college professor, said. “I enjoyed the moral lessons, lessons about kindness and truthfulness, and that we have a common Creator. Those are all good lessons.”
He said that although he’s a Christian, he empathizes with a lot of the values.
“I appreciated it. Like I said, my faith is a little different, but I appreciated very much the pointing to the fact that there’s something greater than us,” he said. “That greater thing and the Creator is where we get our sense of things like truth and justice and beauty.”
He added, “These things are a gift to us.”
