SAN DIEGO—Professor of philosophy Alejandro Orozco was inspired by the grace, beauty, morals, and traditions of 5,000 years of civilization and shared that inspiration after seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts at the San Diego Civic Theater.
“I think without spirit, we don’t have any hope,” said Mr. Orozco, now retired, after seeing the Jan. 20 matinee.
“When you have individual expression, and you have ideas that can be expressed freely, you know, that provides hope. The suppression of ideas destroys human hope and faith. You have to have expression of ideas—and art,” he said.
‘Really Powerful’
The story of China, as told by Shen Yun, also inspired the Gonzales couple, who read about the company and its mission on the drive to the theater.
“The world is kind of dark right now,” she explained, “there are a lot of bad things and hatred and oppression—and it’s just amazing to see such beauty, like beautiful celebration of a culture.”
“The most beautiful parts of it coming through ... bringing history to us. I just thought it was really cool, wow,” she said, adding that she had cried during some of the performances as well.“It’s amazing that they’re, you know, out there spreading such a beautiful culture, such a deeply beautiful culture in such an artistic way with the live music and the beautiful colors and the incredibly graceful dancing,” Ms. Gonzales said. “They’re so in unison, and you know it really flows. The energy is really beautiful, and then they’re telling a really deeply powerful story at the same time.”
“It looks beautiful and simple on the surface, but it’s really deep and really meaningful,” she added. “So I think that in this modern time, there’s a lot of darkness in the world. It’s just really beautiful, it’s really powerful.”
“It’s so beautiful to watch,” he said. “Everybody’s obviously in awe at the presentation, and you can really tell.”
“I’m like, oh my God, this is what she was talking about,” he said. “It’s really amazing.”
He was impressed with all the work Shen Yun members have put in and encouraged them to “please teach others and let it continue.”
