WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Jan. 31, U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and his wife, Laina, attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts evening show at The Kennedy Center Opera House.
“This is my first time here, and that was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Mr. Marshall said.
“The costumes—the shades of yellows and turquoises and greens—I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
Before the Chinese Communist Party’s spread of atheism, Chinese people had a deep belief in the divine. For thousands of years, their values and day-to-day actions were governed according to the teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.
“Five thousand years of history—I must admit we don’t cover these types of things in our history [classes]. I didn’t realize the spiritual side of the history. I’m very curious to learn more,” Mr. Marshall said.
“I’m just stunned by the beauty. I was overwhelmed by how beautiful all of it was.”
He highly recommended everybody to watch Shen Yun because although he and his wife have attended other shows on Broadway, this was different from all other performances.
“I’m not much of an aficionado for some of the arts, but this is the most beautiful dancing I’ve ever seen,” he emphasized.
For Mrs. Marshall, Shen Yun shared an important message about spirituality as well as “how communism tried to suppress that, and how it’s affecting the people.”
“It is a beautiful way to tell the story. I think in any country if there’s no freedom of religion or freedom to worship, it affects the whole country,” she said.
Mr. Marshall, who is also a physician, was touched by Shen Yun’s portrayal of the Chinese Communist Party’s forced organ harvesting from people of faith to fund the regime’s transplant black market.
“As a physician, I’m well aware that this is a business. Foreign countries, with these organ parts, make millions, if not billions, of dollars. Unfortunately, so many of these organs supposedly come from China and quite often, I’m afraid, from prisoners and people that are unjustly imprisoned as well,” he said.
“Boy, this story-dance really puts that in perspective. That is from a true story and it’s a tough one.”
