Ms. Thomas watched with her daughter, Kim, as the first half unfolded: an immersive scene from Heaven, complete with clouds billowing into the theater hall. Delicate female dancers with flowing “water sleeves” floated across the stage, followed by a lively ethnic dance segment, and a song sung by a tenor.
“I was impressed with their strength and courage to do what they are doing,” Virginia Thomas said.
“I was in China about five years ago and had no idea,” Kim Thomas said. “I think that if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere, so bringing our awareness to what’s going on over there [is important because it] potentially could happen here.”
Virginia Thomas said, “We always have to have hope.”
Shen Yun Gives Hope
The underlying passion that drives the dancers shines through in their every gesture and leap. This was obvious to Mark Sullivan, a health and life coach who also watched the show in Jacksonville.“The inner strength supports the outer strength,” he said, speaking of the retelling of a Chinese legend by Shen Yun that made him tear up. “There’s such a discipline and a pride in all the performances.”
He, too, had seen Shen Yun advertisements for years, and only now did he make it to the theater in person. He said that Shen Yun gives him hope that the young people seeing the performance show will be inspired by the dancers’ dedication to their art. “I’m sure that helps, the youth of today are so lost in identity,” he said. “[That inspiration is] a great thing.”
Jake Herbst, an industrial engineer, brought his kids and saw Shen Yun with his wife, Brittany. “It’s a lot different than what I’ve seen before,” he said.
He said their girls were mesmerized every time a new segment began. “Every time the women performed and they raised the curtains, our girls would gasp.”
Being an engineer, Mr. Herbst paid special attention to the technical aspects of the visual effects. Shen Yun’s patented 3D animated backdrop places audience members in ancient palaces, among the clouds, and even on the moon.
Shen Yun’s Dancers Communicate Inner Feelings
It was a family affair for Santiago Ramos and his wife, Azlyn Alverio, and Ms. Alverio’s mother.Ms. Alverio, an engineer and supply chain consultant, said Shen Yun’s storytelling impressed her the most. “It’s showing us all the different places, different cultures, and ethnicities, and the history of China a long time ago.”
Mr. Ramos, who works for Toyota, said the costumes and colors impressed him.
“The colors, the contrast—everything is really, really beautiful,” Ms. Alverio said. “And the way they have the background, the way [the performers] come [onto the stage] from inside that transition; it really, really adds to the performance.”
Shen Yun features a patented integration of the performance on stage with scenes in an animated backdrop. This has been an audience favorite for many years.
