GREENSBORO, N.C.—On Jan. 18, Shen Yun’s New World Company performed an evening show at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts.
Amongst the enthusiastic audience was children’s pastor Meredith Cohoon. She is accompanied by her husband, Greg, and their daughter Aurora.
This was the family’s first year to see
Shen Yun, and they were very happy to hear that the company would present a brand-new set of choreography and musical compositions every year.
They’ll definitely be returning for more.
“It was beautiful. It was grand,” Mr. Cohoon said. “Tell the [Epoch Times] readers that it’s definitely worth checking out. It is very good.”
Mrs. Cohoon, too, was very impressed by Shen Yun’s grandeur and loved that the performance encompassed thousands of years of
Chinese culture.
“From arts and culture to music, from the distant past all the way into the present—Shen Yun did a wonderful job of tying the past to modern-day culture,” she said.
“I found the whole performance to be very hopeful and very hope-filled. I was very impressed that this was not just a performance—there was obviously
a mission behind it.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier
classical Chinese dance and music company. It was founded in 2006 by a group of leading Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.
Following the 1949 communist takeover, traditional Chinese culture went through
a period of destruction. Since Shen Yun’s establishment, the
New York-based artists have made it their mission to revive China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture.
As a pastor, Ms. Cohoon enjoyed the spiritual element incorporated within the show and “loved that [Shen Yun] acknowledges the divinity in each of us as individuals.”
“It was fabulous,” she said, adding that the artistry of all the dancers was very impressive.
She especially loved the classical Chinese dance piece where the dancers’ long sleeves billowed and flowed like the gentle movement of water on stage.
According to the company’s website, these sleeves were a part of ancient Chinese feminine attire representing humility and grace.
Referring to the artists’ commitment to bringing back traditional culture, Mrs. Cohoon said she “wishes Shen Yun the best in its mission.”
It’s wonderful that
the performance is “bringing this culture and hope to the wider world outside of China,” she stated.
“It’s very special to be able to see individuals who have devoted their lives to perpetuating Chinese artistry, dance culture, and
music and sharing it with the present world. If it weren’t for [Shen Yun’s] production, we’d probably not have that window in Chinese culture.”
Reporting by Nancy Ma and Jennifer Tseng.
