HOUSTON—Surgeon Emad Asham and his wife Christine thoroughly enjoyed Shen Yun’s evening performance on Dec. 30. It was the seventh of the company’s ten consecutive shows at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts.
The couple had first learned about
Shen Yun Performing Arts from The Epoch Times and after seeing the show for themselves, they thought it was spectacular.
“The music was very serene, and the coordination of the movements was incredible—I’m sure there were enormous efforts of training behind it,” said Mr. Asham.
The artists’ mission is to bring back China’s 5,000 years of
divinely inspired culture that had been destroyed by decades of communist rule.
Prior to the regime’s spread of atheism, the teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism were indelible parts of Chinese life. Shen Yun’s goal is to share with everyone, the beauty of China before communism.
The couple couldn’t agree more with the artists’
mission. For them, it was not only very important but also very intriguing.
“To be introduced to ancient Chinese culture—something we’re not aware of these days—to revive such a magnificent art is really outstanding,” Mr. Asham said.
“I never knew before that there was a spiritual dimension to ancient
Chinese culture. All we hear now is communism—that’s something I’m really interested to know more about.”
Referring to the spiritual elements of
Shen Yun, Mr. Asham said having faith is very important to our society because “there is an erosion of morality and kindness in [today’s world,] so we definitely need to restore these ancient traditions.”
In response to popular demand,
Shen Yun has expanded from one to eight equally-sized companies that tour the world simultaneously every year. Each group includes a live orchestra.
Using classical Western orchestration as the foundation, Shen Yun’s original
compositions highlight traditional Chinese instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and the pipa—an ancient Chinese lute.
Mr. Asham thought the music was a heavenly experience.
“The music was definitely transcendent. That, combined with the art and the fine movements of the dancers, elevated your soul to another level—a higher level,” he expressed.
Reporting by Sally Sun and Jennifer Tseng.
