HONOLULU—Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Haddock and his wife, Belinda, a stay-at-home mom, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on May 9. The evening show was everything the couple had hoped it would be.
“It’s really amazing. Fantastic. It’s a good experience,” Mr. Haddock said.
He loved the whole performance so much that it was impossible to pick a favorite. “It’s just all so great,” he said.
“Everything is fantastic. I love it,” Mrs. Haddock added. The performers are “very young, but they’re very talented.”
“They’re really good. They’re so talented. Everything’s just in total sync. You can tell they put a lot of practice into it,” he said.
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.
According to the company’s website, Shen Yun’s orchestra is the first in the world to permanently combine ancient Chinese and Western instruments.
“You’re learning a little bit about the culture, and then you also learn about things that are not able to be done [in China] now. That’s kind of amazing for them to share that, because we just don’t know,” he said. “You can tell with the divine part of it—the meaning behind it. That’s just one other thing you don’t understand until you see this. Then you can feel it, too.”
Though Shen Yun is beloved by audiences worldwide, the performers’ commitment to reviving traditional culture and revealing the truth about life under communist rule has led the Chinese regime to ban the company from performing in China.
If given the chance to speak with the performers, Mr. Haddock would like to tell them: “You all are so talented. The dance is beautiful, the colors, the choreography, the way you all work together is just absolutely fantastic.”
“It is a fabulous show, and we’re really enjoying it. Thank you so much,” he said.
