ATLANTA—When a message is conveyed from the heart, it is much more valuable and sincere. Shen Yun Performing Arts has been sharing the beauty of traditional Chinese culture, and audiences worldwide have felt the sincerity of Shen Yun’s efforts.
“It was really heartfelt. I learned something. I’ve never been to China, so it was really cool to kind of understand more about the culture. I thought it was beautiful,” said Ashlee McDonald, a director of strategic accounts, after seeing the first of 10 performances being held at the Atlanta Symphony Hall.
“I can sense the passion, and the culture, and the love for Shen Yun, and the fact that it’s legal here, but it’s obviously not legal there. I just felt very appreciative to be able to watch it,” said Ms. McDonald.
“It was very positive. I’ve always been impressed by Chinese culture and history in a lot of ways. I thought I knew a lot about it. I learned something tonight,” he said. “But it was very positive. You can tell that everybody is very proud of the culture and the history. It was very good.”
Mr. Curtin expressed that it can be difficult for people in America to imagine what it’s like living under a communist regime.
“Especially here in the United States, I don’t think a lot of people understand the history in China, [particularly] communism. So I think they don’t think that deep about it,” Mr. Curtin said.
“And letting people know what’s going on over there is really important. There’s a lot of human rights issues happening that are really important.”
Shen Yun’s Dancers
Classical Chinese dance is one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world, and it requires immense strength, flexibility, and discipline from its dancers.“I just have a lot of respect for that. I used to be a dancer but never [like] that. The fact that anyone can get on stage and dance for nearly two hours just amazes me. So in order to do that, there has to be a love for what they do,” Ms. McDonald said.
“They were fantastic. You could see the emotion coming out of their face, too, when they were performing,” said Mr. Curtin.
Ms. McDonald heard that Shen Yun tours worldwide, and she expressed her wish to share her appreciation for the performance with more people.
“I’m going to educate myself more. And I want to tell more people about this and educate others about it,” she said.
“This is really beautiful art that has a message and a meaning. It’s important to come out and support it, see it, understand it, tell other people about it so the message gets around the world in a positive way,” said Mr. Curtin.
