Shen Yun ‘Absolutely Off the Charts,’ Says Business Consultant
Jan 01, 2024
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Ruy Castelan and Eileen Dyer enjoyed Shen Yun at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 1, 2024. (Sarah Yu/The Epoch Times)
HOUSTON—Ruy Castellan had seen Shen Yun Performing Arts advertised for years, but New Year’s Day was the first time he attended a performance, and he only wished he'd done so sooner.
“It’s just amazing. It is truly, truly moving. The perfection, the choreography, the interaction with the screen is just amazing. I didn’t expect anything like this,” said Mr. Castellan, a business consultant.
He attended the performance at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts with Eileen Dyer, who agreed with his assessment of the performance.
Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, but in the years past, Mr. Castellan had not known that Shen Yun was based in New York nor that its mission was to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization—to show the world China before communism.
“Never really put it together. Had I known that it was an anti-communist thing, I would have come years before,” he said. “This is a stand against communist China.”
For 5,000 years, China was known as the “Land of the Divine,” and civilization centered around the principle of harmony between heaven, earth, and humankind. The ancient Chinese believed their culture was divinely inspired, and Shen Yun follows that tradition, with the company’s name meaning “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”
The Chinese Communist Party only came to power in 1949, after which it launched several violent campaigns to root out traditional culture and replace it with atheism and struggle.
Mr. Castellan felt Shen Yun’s depiction of traditional culture was moving so much that he said he was in tears during the performance and wished more people knew about it.
A Shen Yun performance comprises more than a dozen vignettes, and Mr. Castellan said several were “unbelievable” and “absolutely off the charts” in their novel use of props and stagecraft.
“It is beautiful,” he said. “For me, it’s God-like. It’s truly an expression of goodness and God.”
‘I See Respect’
Ms. Dyer said that as a lover of the arts, seeing the colors and art forms impressed and inspired her.
“The artistic expression is just beautiful,” she said. “Just the style of the dance and everything, like the flow, they just drift on and off ... they’re floating, it’s beautiful.”
Ms. Dyer said she saw the value of respect reflected in the art and stories of Shen Yun.
“It’s respect. I see respect, which I think a lot of people think is missing,” especially in modern China, she said, but it is also taken for granted elsewhere. “So, it’s a good reminder.”
‘To Bridge a Gap’
Yancy Wilson and his son, Yancy Wilson Jr., enjoyed Shen Yun at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 1, 2024. (Sonia Wu/The Epoch Times)
Also in the audience was Yancy Wilson and his son Yancy Wilson Jr., who work together in real estate development with Mr. Wilson, the senior being owner of three businesses.
Yancy Wilson Jr. said he thought Shen Yun was great to “bridge a gap between us, China, all of us, the universe.”
“I think it’s an excellent illustration to bring us together,” he added. “The storyline is intriguing, and the music is spectacular ... and the performances are excellent.”
The father and son explained that they are Christians and found spiritual inspiration in the performance even though what was depicted came from a different culture.
“We’re all from the same place. The Creator of the universe created us all,” Yancy Wilson Snr. said. He perceived this message especially when tenor Lu Gang came out on stage. “That connection was that we’re all from the same place; it’s the same universe,” he said.
Yancy Wilson Jr. said Shen Yun brought them “a different culture, a different perspective,” but it was one that was universal and one to which he could relate.
