“I’m very impressed with the athletic performances and the artistic expression. … I can appreciate how incredibly strong the athletic ambition is and the high [quality] performance,” he said.
“Everything is really so harmonious and … elegantly presented and also humanly moving at the same time.”
Mr. Braun was fascinated by the company’s patented method of integrating a 3D-animated backdrop with the stage performance. It allows the performers to travel seemingly back and forth between the stage and whatever scene is projected on the backdrop.
“You’re always swinging between the animation and real life, and that’s impressive,” he said. “Very cleverly combined with modern technology.”
“I can understand that people who are particularly moved by their worldview are, therefore, also capable of particularly high achievements. And to act together with a lot of discipline and joy of life, that’s really great.”Since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006, its mission has been to revive Chinese traditional culture. The age-old culture has been on the brink of extinction since the Chinese communist regime seized power in 1949. Shen Yun says its performance this year demonstrates “China before communism.”
Along with ancient myths and legends, 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.
“We have to talk about that and we have to educate about that [persecution] because the Communist Party of China does not adhere to the rules that are simply valid worldwide and … have nothing in common with the tradition of the Chinese culture,” Mr. Braun said.
“The Chinese Communist Party has destroyed a lot of a great culture, you just have to emphasize that.”
“I can only encourage them, that is a model for many, many other human rights movements in the world.”
