MEXICO CITY, Mexico—On the afternoon of May 3, former ballet dancer and content creator Andrea Carballido attended Shen Yun Touring Company’s third performance at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City. After the performance, she said the experience left her with a wide range of emotions, from admiration to deep inspiration.
“The show was incredible. I have so many feelings about it,” Ms. Carballido said. “It’s like I don’t have words to explain everything it made me feel. Each performance gave me different emotions. Watching the show is just amazing.”
“I used to be a dancer a long time ago, so I know the discipline required to do all the acrobatics and all the dancing,” she said. “The whole show is just amazing. I’m really, really impressed with everything.”
Ms. Carballido said she was particularly moved by the program’s portrayal of faith, including references to Falun Dafa, a peaceful meditation practice whose followers strive to live by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
“I think people exist through art, through expression, and through our beliefs and our own culture,” she said. “That’s what makes humanity—culture, arts, and dancing. When a regime takes that away from people, it’s like losing your identity. It’s losing what you are. It’s losing humanity.”
She emphasized that preserving cultural traditions is essential, noting that their loss is not limited to one country.
“I think traditions don’t have to be lost. It happens a lot in Mexico, and it happens in China,” she said. “Traditions can continue. All the expressions, all the different dances—that’s what makes us human.”
She added that she admired how the performers continue these traditions even while living abroad.
“Being outside your country and trying to keep all the traditions, the dancing, the history—I think that’s really, really amazing,” she said.
Ms. Carballido said she relates to that experience personally.
“I’m Mexican, and I am an ambassador of my country outside of it,” she said. “What they are doing—living in New York and trying to share their culture and traditions with everyone—is really amazing and something that should continue.”
“For me, it’s not a religion—it’s spiritual,” she said. “Religion is different from spirituality. I love spirituality because it connects you with your own being and with the rest of the universe.”
She said this connection can have a grounding effect.
“It really helps you stay grounded and fight for what you want,” she said. “So spirituality is also part of humanity.”
Reflecting on the message she received from the performance, Ms. Carballido said it encourages people to stay true to themselves.
“You need to follow your dreams. You need to always be yourself,” she said. “You have to fight for what you want—for your ideals, your culture, your traditions, your history. Even if you’re not in your country, your country lives in you. They don’t decide who you are. You are the one who decides who you are.”
