PORTLAND, Ore.—Entrepreneur Alex Brown and his wife, Bau, had a wonderful time at Shen Yun Performing Arts’ evening show at the Keller Auditorium on April 17. They were stunned by the beauty of classical Chinese dance.
“It was wonderful,” Mr. Brown said. “The interpretations were wonderful—they came through well in the performance. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
China is one of the world’s oldest civilizations. Its 5,000 years of history are filled with legends and rich traditions. Yet, within just a few decades following the rise of the Chinese Communist Party, this magnificent culture was destroyed.
Belief in the divine was suppressed, and the moral values passed down through Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism were pushed aside. Today, New York-based Shen Yun seeks to revive this lost heritage and bring back the beauty of pre-communist China through classical Chinese dance and music.
Mrs. Brown, who is Hmong, was deeply moved by this mission. She was especially touched by the modern-day story dance raising awareness about the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing persecution of the people of faith.
“I loved it. I grew up with the story. So, I know the stories and [there were] a lot of parts that made me really emotional because I feel so connected to it. It was just so beautiful in a way,” she said.
“You don’t need language, you don’t need words, and you could just feel it, you know. [For] me, personally, it was just really emotional because a lot of it still occurs today, especially the mother and son story. ... It brings awareness to the audience about what is still currently happening today.”
Shen Yun is a “beautiful show, but it still also tells a story about what’s happening today in China that not a lot of the world knows what’s going on. So, it’s beautiful and also really emotional. It touched me.”
Though Shen Yun has received worldwide acclaim since its inception in 2006, due to the artists’ dedication to reviving traditional culture and presenting the truth of events in present-day China under communist rule, they are currently banned from performing in China.
“It’s beautiful and sad at the same time just because of the real-life situations that they’re portraying,” Mr. Brown added. “But it’s wonderful ... that you can feel uh the emotion through the performance. It was really well done.”
As a Christian, Mr. Brown said he is happy to see that Shen Yun incorporated a spiritual dimension in the performance and spoke openly about divinity.
“I think everyone worships God in their own way, but we’re all people at the end of the day, and we’re all God’s children no matter how we worship him,” he said. “I like [the message] very much.”
The couple is eager to share their experience with friends and family, and recommends anyone who hasn’t seen the performance yet to experience it for themselves.
“It’s definitely worth going,” Mr. Brown said. “The messages were good, and I would definitely recommend it to a friend.”
