“I was really struck by it because I had expected it to have beautiful dancing and music, but I wasn’t expecting to have a really spiritual, deeply philosophical message. It really struck me. I thought it was very beautiful all together in one space. Quite extraordinary.”

***

“I think it went from the physical dimension to the spiritual dimension and back and forth, just like we are as spiritual beings and reminding us of what it means to be human is not just what we see, and the travel of time and space and dimensions. And also reminding us, especially in these troubled times, that actually physical things are very fleeting, and that we have to have a lot more in our lives to keep us sustained for our long journey beyond this life. I thought that was really rich and wonderful with the backdrop of the music.”

***

“I think it shows Chinese culture in a much more holistic way than most Westerners really know it. They only know China post-communism and they don’t know this richer, deeper past, which of course is still very much China and lives in its culture and its people, so I think that’s really extraordinary.”

***

“I think what’s really striking to me is beauty, obviously, but beauty beyond the senses, beauty in the sense of harmony, of living with others, of a joy in things beyond the physical. I think that was very surprising to me.”

***

“I loved the last piece (“Boundless Compassion”). … It brought it all together very much so for me. … I think it gave me that sense of transcendence. That’s what I would say—a real sense of transcendence. It was really quite beautiful.”

***

I think those values [depicted in Shen Yun] are universal and I think they are really critical to show in this time which is very divisive, and the rise of China also I think frightens a lot of people. I think this is really quite a different view of what China really is and what Chinese culture is. I think it’s critical.”