SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Winery owner David Steinhafel attended Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center on Jan. 24.
As the evening concluded, Mr. Steinhafel said the
experience was “really incredible,” and he’ll certainly be recommending the show to his friends and family.
“That classical Chinese dancing—I’ve always been intrigued by Chinese culture—was really incredible. Going back in
history thousands and thousands of years, it’s beautiful to see,” he said.
“It was a fantastic show. It’s just an overall beautiful depiction of classical and historical Chinese culture. It’s a beautiful show with beautiful music. Very nice.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun’s
artists are highly trained in classical Chinese dance. Dating back thousands of years, it is one of the most expressive art forms in the world.
According to the company’s website, the
classical Chinese dance we see in China today is heavily mixed with military and modern dance styles. Only at Shen Yun can you find it performed in its purest form, the way it was originally passed down through the generations.
Mr. Steinhafel was also touched by the
spiritual message woven throughout Shen Yun’s performance.
“I thought it was inspiring,” he said. “It was uplifting. Overall, the message was one of compassion and humanity. It is of understanding and acceptance.”
After watching the dances and reading the lyrics sung by Shen Yun’s
singers, Mr. Steinhafel said he felt a sense of community.
“Everyone is uplifting each other and there’s a sense of love and devotion for their fellow humans—that certainly came across,” he stated.
“A lot of the [program was about] divine inspiration and talking about the message of humanity going back to the divine creator. I thought that was interesting. There were a lot of parallels with Western culture and Western religion.”
Though Mr. Steinhafel doesn’t have a music background, he said he loves traditional Chinese music and thoroughly enjoyed the live
orchestra.
Using classical Western orchestration as the foundation, Shen Yun’s original compositions highlight traditional Chinese instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and the pipa, an ancient Chinese lute, bringing to its audience the best of both worlds.
Referring to Shen Yun’s
mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and bring back the beauty of pre-communist China, Mr. Steinhafel said he “certainly thinks it’s important.”
“The world is kind of a crazy place right now,“ he added. ”I think for all of us to kind of fall back on our humanity and really accept each other is important, specifically at this time for sure.”
Reporting by Lily Yu and Jennifer Tseng.
