OKLAHOMA CITY—Andrew Griffin, a journalism professor, and his wife, Monica Griffin, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater on April 20.
“I found it whimsical and enlightening and historical,” said Mr. Griffin. “I felt it had a certain positivity and human dignity. It was inspiring, and it brings thinking that despite all the darkness in the world, there’s a positive way to go forth in life, and it’s very life-affirming.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has been the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company since its inception in 2006. Its performers come from all around the world, united in their mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and the beauty and goodness of China before communism.
Shen Yun’s program includes story-based dances, some of which are set in modern-day China and depict the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of followers of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Mr. Griffin said that he was aware of “what was going on with the communist Chinese government cracking down on the Falun Dafa followers” and that seeing it shown on stage was very moving.
“That was very moving because I know it’s really happening,” said Mr. Griffin. “But what was interesting—it felt like something out of another time period, like something my parents, maybe in the 1970s, would have watched. It’s like drawing back a time where you are reminded that, wow, there’s these really good things in the world, and there’s so much darkness, why not be drawn to those good things?”
Mr. Griffin said that for him, the message of Shen Yun’s performance was one of “human dignity and [that] ... life-affirming messages will overcome the dark forces on planet Earth.”
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Reporting by Sonia Wu and Wandi Zhu.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
