NEW YORK—It was not the first time Riaz Babar, CEO and president at Network Television Marketing Inc., saw Shen Yun Performing Arts at Lincoln Center Thursday night.
“It’s fabulous, I really love it,” he said after mentioning that he had seen Shen Yun at Radio City Hall a few years ago. The classical Chinese dance and music company puts on an entirely new program every year.
Mr. Babar appreciated how Shen Yun depicted traditional Chinese culture. “Chinese culture is really valuable. I am from Pakistan, so we are a natural neighbor as well,” he said.
He also said how much he liked the hand-made costumes of Shen Yun. “They are very colorful,“ he said adding, ”they are very traditional.”
Shen Yun’s presenters mentioned how the connection between heaven, earth, and man is an integral part of traditional Chinese culture. Mr. Babar appreciated the spiritual aspect of the performance. It was “very strong, and I really like it,” he said.
Shen Yun promises to “restore and revive Chinese traditional culture,” as stated in its website, which came through to Mr. Babar. “Chinese is an very ancient history, a country or an area where people have developed themselves very rapidly ... and Chinese have their values, every nation has its values, and it grows with their values, so I think it is a very divine, very worthwhile, and very strong culture,” he said.
For him the performance conveyed “Respect for heaven, emotions and also respect for humanity, and [it showed] great harmony among all the performers as well.”
Mr. Babar explained his interpretation of the performance with regard to respect.
“If you have a leader to whom you follow, like a spiritual leader, and if you respect that leader and the values of that being, then you will also respect your fellow people as well. When the goddess came to the world everyone showed respect.”
Referring to the the first dance in the program, titled Grand Descent of the Deities, Mr. Babar said, “What happened is that the God cannot come by himself, so what he does is that he sends his people to the earth, to give that direction to the people, to advise them to tell them how to live, and how to live in harmony. So it’s very nice, awesome, fabulous.”
Reporting by Hannah Cai
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.
