SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Utah Representative Says Shen Yun Invokes Compassion and Charity

Feb 26, 2023
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Utah Representative Says Shen Yun Invokes Compassion and Charity
Kay Christofferson, Utah State Representative, enjoyed Shen Yun with his wife, Suzanne, at the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Feb. 25, 2023.

SALT LAKE CITY—Kay Christofferson, Utah State Representative, was happy to welcome Shen Yun Performing Arts to the state. He felt something positive from the performance and commented on how it could inspire people to do good for others in the world.

“I’ve never been before, and I’ve always wanted to come. It was amazing. I just thought it was great to hear about the culture, and the customs of China, out of history and beautiful dancers, very graceful and athletic,” said Rep. Christofferson, who saw the performance with his wife Suzanne at the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Feb. 25.

He commented on the creative stage production and variety and the “beautiful music” that had him “looking around for CDs” after the performance. “I love that music—it’s great, relaxing, and a lot of energy in it.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance company, and takes as its mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. In it, Rep. Christofferson saw many similarities to the beliefs of the people of Utah. Most of all, he was impressed by the universality of what he saw.

He saw “culture and values, and family and other things that we all resonate with, things that bind us as civilization and things that are divine as well.”

“Here in Utah, we’re a faithful people here, and we have beliefs in the pre-existence and divine powers and God. And I think that it’s similar to some of our beliefs with faith—kindness, and charity.”

Rep. Kay Christofferson and his wife Suzanne presented Shen Yun with a letter of appreciation at the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Feb. 25, 2023. (NTD)
Rep. Kay Christofferson and his wife Suzanne presented Shen Yun with a letter of appreciation at the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Feb. 25, 2023. (NTD)
He also saw Shen Yun bring up topics that were not wholly positive: the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of people of faith, particularly spiritual followers of Falun Gong.

“I’ve heard about that a lot. And it’s a reality,” Rep. Christofferson said. “And this demonstration of the cruelty of that, it helps impress upon us how bad things can get and how we need to be vigilant, do what we can to help those people who are being persecuted.”

He felt it was very relevant for Americans.

“We can relate to that. It’s something that we’re aware of. It’s something we’re saying, ‘What can we do to help?’”

He added that Shen Yun helped people understand the Chinese Communist Party, not the Chinese people, were the instigators of such evil.

In Shen Yun, “you could see good versus evil, and those who were trying to do good were showing compassion and forbearance, and kindness and some of those virtues that we all seek. And we have a common goal to fight evil. There’s evil everywhere.”
“[In] our world today, we’re looking at distractions and things that take us away from those things that are most important, and that’s why it is here, in Utah as well as other parts of the world,” he said. “We’ve got to pay attention to what things are most important. And realize that we can’t just think about ourselves and involve ourselves in things that don’t matter. We need to look outside of ourselves. Look at compassion, and kindness, and charity, and realize that we have an obligation to those around us as well.”
Reporting by NTD.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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