The Beauty of Shen Yun Is a Panacea in Trying Times
Jan 17, 2022
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Carlos Serrano and Shama Lyons attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, Calif., on Jan. 16, 2022. (Joyce Kuo/Epoch Times)
ESCONDIDO, Calif.—Shama Lyons and Carlos Serrano both agreed that the performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, was mesmerizing.
“I absolutely love it,” said Lyons, an elementary school principal.
It was well worth coming out to watch Shen Yun at the present time, she said alluding to the pandemic.
“[Shen Yun] is what people need right now—to get out and be able to experience culture and life,” she said.
It was important for families and people, in general, to be united, she added.
Shen Yun opens up the audience to the world of China’s authentic traditional culture seen through classical and folk dance and music.
Lyons was particularly impressed by the “Plum Blossom in Spring” dance. In Chinese culture, the plum blossom is a symbol of courage and resilience.
The colors were so vibrant and the movements of the dancers were hypnotic, she said. She also observed how the dancers used their height to move in high and low formations across the stage.
With a blend of traditional Eastern and classical Western instruments, Shen Yun’s orchestra is unique in the world.
“The music is just so engaging and beautiful as well. It’s what’s creating and putting the whole dance movements together in my opinion,” said Lyons.
She was surprised by Shen Yun’s innovative and creative backdrops, the result of the company’s patented 3-D projection technology. She was awed at how the technology allowed for seamless interaction between the stage actors and the projection.
“I like how [the actors] jump off the edge [of the stage] in order to go into that other realm,” she said.
Chinese culture, with its folklore and history, was very interesting, said Lyons, and now she had some insight into the present-day persecution [of Falun Gong.] Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual practice that is based on the universal values of truth, compassion, and tolerance, has been brutally persecuted by the communist regime for over 20 years.
“Although they’re telling the past, they’re bringing the current history into play,” she said.
Lyon’s friend, Carlos Serrano, noted that watching the dancers was like falling into a trance. “So, it’s fun,” he said.
China was once known as “The Land of the Divine” and the Chinese people believed that their culture was a gift from the gods. Religions such as Buddhism and Taoism were founded on moral teachings that became universal values.
Serrano was surprised to find that there were common threads between the ancient Chinese beliefs and modern religions found in the West.
He was aware that much of China’s traditional art and music had been destroyed by the communist regime and praised Shen Yun’s determination to revive that culture. He also lamented the fact that today’s media throws very little light on what is happening in China.
Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company's curtain call at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, on Jan. 15, 2022. (Ji Yuan/The Epoch Times)
Jeff Nevin, a musician who teaches Mexican folk music at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, was also in the audience.
“I think it’s very beautiful ... and exciting,” he said.
Nevin was impressed at the professionalism of Shen Yun.
“I’ve done a lot of different shows … and everything [in Shen Yun] is very, very well done—the artistry of the dancers and the beautiful music,“ Nevin said.
“[The] live orchestra was fantastic. I wasn’t expecting to have a live orchestra,” he said.
He also enjoyed the vocalist who sang ‘To Heaven in This Life,’ the story of how, after millions of years have passed, one leaves Heaven on a journey down to Earth to await the Creator.
After watching Shen Yun, many people remark how they feel uplifted by the performance. Nevin agreed that during the trying times of the pandemic, music and dance can provide relief.
“We all need to be able to go someplace and to just escape real-life and come in and see and enjoy and spend a nice time like that. So, [Shen Yun] is a good place to come,” he said.
