NEW YORK—As has become the tradition over the last eight years, Shen Yun Performing Arts took the stage in front of a full house at New York’s Lincoln Center on Jan. 15, 2014.
Ms. Wang, who moved from Chinese to the United States less than 3 years ago, came to see Shen Yun for her second time.
“Because I live in a Chinese community, I heard about the performance from other Chinese people living there,” she said.
“After watching Shen Yun, I felt that I could finally dip deep within myself and make some changes. A touching emotion overcame me after seeing Shen Yun. I greatly cherished the beauty exemplified by Shen Yun. Also, I was also very interested in all the stories coming out of the history. What’s more, I greatly admired [the courage shown by those Falun Gong practitioners.] Back home [in China], information relating to Falun Gong is very hard to come by,” she added.
Falun Gong is a Chinese spiritual meditation practice that comes from ancient China. For more than a decade, Falun Gong practitioners have been heavily persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime.
“Based in New York, Shen Yun Performing Arts was established by Falun Dafa practitioners in 2006. The company’s mission is to use performing arts to revive the essence of Chinese culture—traditionally considered a divinely inspired civilization,” says the company’s website. Because of the persecution, it’s not possible for Shen Yun is to perform in China.
Onychy, a Chinese student currently studying at the City University of New York, said “I love the lighting in Shen Yun, very bright, and everything shown on stage is very positive. The traditional culture shown by Shen Yun is absolutely different what is put on stage in China. Even though the dances in China show good technique, the dancing in Shen Yun is very much different. The overall Shen Yun presentation is just very positive and upright.”
Onychy began getting acquainted with Shen Yun before coming. “My friends told me about Shen Yun and I did some research about the performance online,” she said. Growing up in Japan, Onychy said she didn’t know much about traditional Chinese culture. She added, “Shen Yun performance allows me to have a greater appreciation for the traditional culture. Before I didn’t really understand some of these stories, now I have a deeper understanding thanks to how Shen Yun infuses stories in history into the dances.”
Yu Sen, a Chinese restaurant manager in New York, commented that “Shen Yun is an exquisite masterpiece, from the costumes to all the minute details. From the mathematical perspective, the calculation is done in perfection for everything, without any tiny kind of mistake. The male dancers are masculine, and the female dancers are graceful. Shen Yun has changed the way I look at the Chinese history.”
Marble Wang, a Chinese hairstylist in New York, extolled the wonderfulness of the Shen Yun performance. Both the costumes and the music were great and it was worth it to watch Shen Yun once more time, according to Wang.
Mr. Yang, who just recently arrived in the United States from China, said this was his first time watching Shen Yun. At the conclusion of the performance, Mr. Yang was reluctant to leave as he was excited to take some pictures with his Chinese friends who had come along in front of the Shen Yun billboard.
“Simply outstanding! Quite an emotional moment for me to see the Chinese classical culture put on stage by Shen Yun,” Mr. Yang said. As for different programs in the performance, Mr. Yang had this to say - “I was greatly touched by every single one of the programs.”
Mr. Jiang, who is also Chinese, quickly added “That’s right, that’s right. Every single person is a great inspiration. We came all the way from out of state to see Shen Yun.”
Mr. Jiang said he immediately made up his mind to come to see Shen Yun after seeing commercials of the performance. He excitedly said, “It’s my first time ever seeing Shen Yun. Shen Yun is simply marvelous. Now, I am so excited that I don’t know to to express myself. So excited.”
Yet, Mr. Jiang sighed, voicing his chagrin by saying “It is a pity that such a wonderful performance cannot be seen in China.”
Reporting by Hannah Cai, Pang Huier, Chen Tiancheng, Frank Fang, and Billy Xu.
Read original Chinese article.
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New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
