SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

MasterCard VP Says He ‘Felt Connected to God’ During Shen Yun

Jan 28, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Marcos Peralta, Vice President of MasterCard, his wife Fabiana Peralta, architect and painter, and their twin granddaughters, Guadalupe and Fatima, all felt a divine spark throughout the entirety of the Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 27.

“This is one of the best things I’ve seen in a long, long period of time … it has been wonderful,” said Mr. Peralta.

Not knowing that Shen Yun is based out of New York and presents story-based dances that span 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture, Mr. Peralta thought he was just going to see a “Chinese ballet” but was exceptionally surprised.

“I didn’t expect something like this … it was really deep,” he said “I felt connected with God several times during the performance.”

Having seen a variety of performances, including ballets, Mr. Peralta said the message behind Shen Yun is what set this performance apart from the rest.

“The mix of the performance and the message behind the performance … makes it extra powerful,” he said.

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Mr. Peralta enjoyed how Shen Yun incorporated lessons of virtue through ancient China’s divinely inspired culture.

From the story-based pieces that convey morals still relevant to the modern day to the classical dance form and music, he said, “the divine lives in each of us … and you connect with it through multiple ways.”

“There are a lot of things that surround us that take us away from that right path. You need to stay on that path, going back to the divine.”

According to the company’s website, Shen Yun has preserved the true aesthetics of this classical dance system—the way it has been passed down from antiquity—and presents this authentic culture in its purest form.

Impressed by Shen Yun’s live orchestra, Ms. Peralta said the music was not only relaxing but healing.

“This music heals,” she said, “I feel [it] healing people.”

The Shen Yun orchestra is the first in the world to permanently combine classical Western and Chinese instruments within a Western symphony orchestra. Shen Yun also boasts virtuoso vocalists who sing Chinese lyrics using the bel canto style.

The Peralta’s granddaughter, Guadalupe, is a trained sopranist and especially appreciated the skill and power behind the company’s singer.

“It felt personal, the way she was singing,” she said, “I felt a lot of emotions behind the song, and there were several times … I wanted to cry.”

Guadalupe’s twin sister was also very moved by the power and spirituality of Shen Yun.

“It was genuinely such a beautiful performance,” she said, “as soon as the curtains opened, I felt tears in my eyes just from seeing it. I felt it in my heart”

Core Values of Goodwill

Domenic Savini and his granddaughter Ariana Christina Douleur at the Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 27, 2024. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times)

Domenic Savini, assistant director of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, returned to see Shen Yun for a second year. This time, he brought his entire family to see the matinee performance at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 27.

“I brought my two daughters, my son-in-law, my nephew, and my two granddaughters because the performance is so inspirational,” said Mr. Savini. “It underpins the core values that people of goodwill all over the world have.”

“These principles are so important, and for me, I’m so happy my grandchildren are here, and even many adults, because we [have] forgotten that we are made in the image of the divine.”

“And because we are made in the creator’s image … we need to treat each other with respect and love … as the Falun Dafa teaches with the truthfulness, the compassion,” he added, “and this is what we’ve forgotten in the world today.”

Along with myths and legends from ancient times, Shen Yun presents story-based dances depicting the persecution of Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, a meditation and spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a persecution against the practice in 1999, and adherents have since been subjected to unprecedented imprisonment, torture, and abuse.

“I’m so proud of Shen Yun … I’m so proud of the [practitioners] of Falun Dafa who’ve suffered so much to come here and to remind us of these beautiful truths that make us remember that we’re going to return back to heaven and we will be judged by our actions here,” said Mr. Savini.

“The performance is brilliant … and it’s just so beautiful!”

Asking his granddaughter what her takeaway was from the performance, young Ariana said, “You always have to stand up for your religion; you can’t back down no matter if you’re near China or here.”

A Spark of Divinity From Beginning to End

Laura Caspar with her husband Joseph Caspar, her mother Virginia Heim, and their dog-walker Raven Jefferson at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 27, 2024. (Amy Hu/The Epoch Times)

Laura Caspar, assistant state’s attorney for Maryland, her husband Joseph Caspar, trooper and former sergeant, her mother Virginia Heim, and their dogwalker Raven Jefferson attended Shen Yun for the second time on Jan. 27 at The Kennedy Center Opera House.

Ms. Caspar loved this year’s emphasis on spirituality as well as themes of the persecution currently happening in China.

“People need to remember all of the persecution that’s happening [in China], she said, “It doesn’t matter what their ethnicity is ... what their faith is, anybody who wants to speak openly or have any divergent position from the [CCP], can’t speak—they’re persecuted—and I love that [Shen Yun] brings attention to it!”

She said her main takeaway from the performance is the importance of having a spiritual practice like the persecuted Falun Dafa meditators “that leads towards being compassionate, that leads to getting back to your center, and to finding a path towards divinity.”

“The fact that … the creator has always been there, and is still here, and will be here, is very powerful to me,” she said, “I love that the entire show kept that spirit of divinity in it—throughout the whole show.”

As a lawyer, she said she has trouble getting her mind off her work, but during the show, she said she was completely at peace.

“My head never gets out of work, but I get in there, and I didn’t think about it at all,” she said, “I was just very, very absorbed … it was beautiful.”

Reporting by Sherry Dong, Terri Wu, Amy Hu, and Jennifer Schneider.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.