Shen Yun Inspires Professor With Traditional Values
Jan 13, 2024
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The Krestas enjoyed Shen Yun at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas, on the afternoon of Jan. 13, 2024. (Sonia Wu/The Epoch Times)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas—Shen Yun Performing Arts opened a new world of sights, sounds, and traditional culture for Kurt Kresta, a biology professor, who saw a performance with his family.
“I thought it was fantastic. The combination of the music and the singing and the performing arts was really amazing. I truly enjoyed it,“ he said. ”Gorgeous ... The performers—always a smile on their face—the way they moved, and the choreography along with the orchestra was fantastic. I truly enjoyed myself.”
The family had attended the Jan. 13 matinee at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts for Mrs. Julie Kresta’s birthday.
“I loved every minute of it,” she said.
Mr. Kresta was impressed with the traditional values he felt the performance communicated.
“I truly enjoyed it and loved the idea of Dafa, which I wasn’t aware, in the traditional teaching and keeping with what appears to be traditional beliefs and kind of pushing off Western and modern and communist ideas. I thought it was a fantastic show, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly,” he said, referring to Falun Dafa, a spiritual meditation practice that was referenced in a story dance vignette.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company and has the mission of reviving 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through music and dance. In recent years, they’ve referred to this presentation of China as “China before communism”—the China that was once called the Land of the Divine.
Communism only took power in China less than a century ago, but before that, Chinese civilization revolved around the idea of harmony between heaven, earth, and humankind.
In keeping with this tradition, the artists of Shen Yun seek spiritual improvement, as they explain on Shen Yun’s website. Many of the artists practice Falun Dafa, which teaches the three principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance, but followers of this practice have been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Mr. Kresta said he thought the performance conveyed a message of rejecting communist culture and instead “looking back to our roots and our traditions, the finding of who we are, finding peace there and avoiding the confusion of some of the modern teachings, not only of communism but of Western thought, and finding a piece of oneself.”
Dream Fulfilled
The Almodovars enjoyed Shen Yun at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas, on the afternoon of Jan. 13, 2024. (Sally Sun/The Epoch Times)
The Almodovars had also attended the performance to celebrate a birthday. Seeing Shen Yun had been a “lifelong dream” for Sandra Almodovar, who compared the performance to her near-death experience.
Attending the performance with her husband, Luis, to celebrate her birthday, Mrs. Almodovar shared that five years ago, she had clinically died while giving birth to her daughter. She said she was brought back to life with a newfound purpose and a mission to do good in the world. In Shen Yun, she felt a similar message and said the performing arts group was having a positive impact on society.
“Through unity, through compassion ... that’s the way to go instead of being rude and being selfish, that we need to be loving, caring, and most importantly give of ourselves so that we can help and help them see the light within us,” Mrs. Almodovar said.
After seeing the performance, she said she purchased a subscription to Shen Yun’s streaming platform immediately, wanting her children to share in the experience.
“I was joyful, tearful, I wanted to jump out of my seat,” she said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
“It was beyond, beyond anything that I could have ever expected,” Mrs. Almodovar said.
The name “Shen Yun” translates roughly into “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” and Mr. Almodovar felt the performance was every bit as heavenly as the name suggests.
“The meaning of all the dance and the show, All the—everything!” he said. “The choreography, the background, and the music—especially the music, it’s so peaceful. It brings you peace to the soul and enjoyment. It’s beyond words.”
“It is very touching. It touches deep down into you, to the heart and soul,” Mr. Almodovar said.
