CHICAGO— Entrepreneur Maria Skrynik and her husband, lawyer Sergey Bogomolov, had been hoping to attend Shen Yun Performing Arts for the past three years but never had the opportunity—until now.
On May 3, they finally made it to the company’s second performance at the Civic Opera House. The experience was everything they had hoped for.
“[They’re] like a feather,” Ms. Skrynik chimed in. “I loved it very much.”
The production is comprised of a series of short pieces that take its audience on a ride through the dynasties and across the vast regions of China. Using classical Chinese, folk, and ethnic dances, as well as solo musical performances, the artists tell tales from ancient times to the modern day.
“It was a divine message,” she reflected. “Message full of light and hope, a conservative message. [It urges you] to follow your faith, follow your dreams, and to follow the light—to be truthful and to not sell your soul.”
Before the communist party’s spread of atheism, Chinese people were very spiritual and had a deep belief in the divine. For thousands of years, their values and day-to-day actions were strictly governed by the teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism.
Mr. Bogomolov has great respect for the performers’ commitment to bringing back traditional culture. He loved that Shen Yun “delivers a message of believing in God, in traditional values, and carrying your legacy through the ages no matter what.”
“As individuals, we should follow our God, our Buddha, our Creator, and should behave ourselves in the most positive way to deliver good instead of evil—to be the best example for the ones who may follow us.”
Ms. Skrynik couldn’t agree more. Her take-home message from the evening is that “there’s hope, there’s love, and we should hope for the best and trust our Creator.”
“We should try to do our best. To be the best version of ourselves. That’s how I understood [the performance,]” she said.
“No matter what is happening in the world, we should stick to tradition, we should know what is right, and to follow the right path, no matter what.”
