“I wanted to be a part of it … it just really drew me in,” she said. “At certain parts, the dancers ... that was the only thing that existed. It was a lot of fun, and it made me cry a lot.”
Ms. Oliver, who received tickets to the performance as a Christmas gift, said watching Shen Yun’s dancers reminded her of her own passion for dancing. She has been a gold medalist in Europe, Latin America, and the United States during her own dancing career.
“I love it, I do,” she said. “There’s really no words to express what I feel because it was really moving for me … It really drew me in. It’s dancing, it’s a story, it’s history, it’s what brings a lot of people together.”
“[Shen Yun] tells a history, and their culture is definitely a culture that is built on respect and honor, and you just don’t see that nowadays,” she observed. “It’s what people would call kind of ‘old school,’ especially here in the United States—it’s really … moving to see the honor and respect that they give either each other or their elders—it’s something that a lot of young people could really learn, especially nowadays.”
“It’s more than just stories; it’s more than just going through motions and actions,” she said, noting the significance and power of dance. “It’s expressing a story without words.”
“It’s definitely a show that I would come back and see again.”
