CHICAGO—Shen Yun Performing Arts has been described as the performance everyone should see at least once in their life. Suzanne Baker Brown, the CEO of a nonprofit, said that she could not take her eyes off the stage.
“You couldn’t take your eyes off of them. The costumes were great. The spiritual message was wonderful,” Ms. Baker Brown said.
One dance that really captured Ms. Baker Brown was “The Ladies’ Classical Chinese Dance.”
“It was phenomenal. I think mesmerizing would be the word that I used. Particularly the one with the pink and black outfits was amazing,” she said.
One of Shen Yun’s dance stories depicted the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in present-day China.
“It’s heart-breaking to know that people are persecuted like that there, and obviously that happens all over the world in different forms. I think you’ve done an amazing job of communicating and sharing [that],” she said.
China was once a land of divinely inspired culture. When the Chinese Communist Party came into power, it systematically tried to destroy and distort that culture and people’s belief in the divine.
“It was incredible. Beautiful. And I’m so sorry. It’s heart-breaking to have all of our humanity and divinity squelched or squashed which is what communism has done. The artistic part of us and the alive part of us is being squelched,” Ms. Baker Brown said.
Shen Yun’s live orchestra is a unique combination of traditional Chinese instruments and a classic Western ensemble.
“Loved the music. It was interesting to hear some different instruments too,” she said.
One instrument that shone under the spotlight was the two-stringed erhu.
“I had never seen that instrument before and that was, that was very unique and interesting,” she said.
Shen Yun’s website states that in ancient China, music was used to cure illness.
“I love that they said that because I think it’s true. I was a music major in college and loved music,” Ms. Baker Brown said. “That’s a big part of our faith as well. I think the connection to the music and the impact of our soul and healing and all of that was incredible.”
