NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.—Shen Yun Performing Arts gave an inspiring performance for the audience at the State Theatre New Jersey on April 25. Vinayak Hebbar, an IT architect, said this was a birthday present for his wife and arranged seating close to the stage.
Mr. Hebbar was impressed with “the way the whole show is happening, the digital experience along with the dance. It’s amazing. It’s very nice the way they started the show.”
As the curtain rises, the audience sees a magnificent heavenly scene. A mist gives way to divine beings following the Creator to earth to save humanity.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive the traditional culture of China before communism. Many dance pieces feature stories that carry spiritual lessons for the world.
The communist regime persecutes and suppresses the spiritual practice of Falun Gong (Falun Dafa), which, according to the program, is “the meditation discipline guided by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.”
Mr. Hebbar said he enjoyed the stories, especially “The Steadfast Heart.” He said, “It is very, very inspiring.”
He saw the dance drama as a battle of good versus evil. For him, the message was “don’t give up. Keep fighting for whatever you believe in. You will always succeed,” he said.
“If you believe in good, you fight for good. You are there,” he said. “It’s basically what you believe in, and what you want to do, [such as] doing good for the society and [to take] humanity higher.”
Shen Yun brings a live orchestra as part of the show. Both Eastern and Western instruments play original music as part of the dance pieces.
Mr. Hebbar appreciated the perfection of the Shen Yun musicians. “You can’t believe that the entire audio is done by this orchestra. I feel it is something that is recorded. It’s flawless.”
He said his son “plays in the orchestra in the school. So, I know the kind of hard work they put in. How important it is for every single individual to keep it right, and [the Shen Yun orchestra] is doing an amazing job. I really, really appreciate it.”
Mr. Hebbar will tell others about Shen Yun. “To other people I would say that this is a lifetime experience. They should come and watch this and get the inspiration of what the Chinese culture was. How the entire journey was. You should get inspired. There’s a lot of positive things which are coming out of this.”
He appreciated Shen Yun’s effort to bring traditional Chinese spiritual culture to the world. “[People] must be here to experience by themselves,” he said. “You should feel it. You should get goosebumps when you come sit here and feel it.”
Mr. Hebbar said, “I would definitely recommend this to anyone. This is lovely show, knowing that this has been running for 20 years and we have not seen this before. It’s a loss.”
