SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Educator Hopes All Her Students Can See Shen Yun

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Educator Hopes All Her Students Can See Shen Yun
Natalie White and Eve Broadis at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at SEC Armadillo on Feb. 13, 2024. NTD

GLASGOW, UK—Educators have an eye for things that are beneficial to their students. For Natalie White, a head teacher, Shen Yun Performing Arts is a performance she wishes her students could see.

“I think it’s really important that we celebrate tradition and celebrate all of our cultures. I was actually the whole time thinking, I wish I brought the school children,” said Ms. White.

“It would be really great for them to see it. There was so much in it that they would have taken from, so that was really powerful.”

Her mother, Eve Broadis, director of Fairtrade Scotland, thought that Glasgow would benefit from Shen Yun as well.

“Amazing. Just a spiritual experience. Relaxing. I just needed that. I think Glasgow actually needed this, to be honest,” she said.

Shen Yun is based in New York, and its mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese culture. China was once known as the land of the divine, and Ms. Broadis felt Glasgow had also become detached from believing in the divine.
“We’ve lost that connection with the divine. Everybody’s just doing their own thing, but we need to be doing things together, and I think [Shen Yun] brought that togetherness,” she said.
Before communism took over China with its atheist ideology, Buddhism and Taoism were the two main belief systems. Both systems taught people the importance of respecting the divine and respecting others.

“The virtues definitely came through strongly on the whole show from start to finish. There was a sense of values through it. It was really nice,” said Ms. White.

Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most athletic and expressive dance systems in the world.

“It was really vibrant, so full of life and energy, and the colors—everything about it just was so fulfilling. It was very pleasant. Really good experience,” said Ms. Broadis.

Shen Yun’s performance includes classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dances, as well as dance stories. The stories come from 5,000 years of history.

“[Shen Yun] brought the stories alive, brought the history alive, brought the heritage alive, which was really nice,” said Ms. Broadis.

Using dance and music, Shen Yun tells stories of past and present-day China. One particular story takes place in contemporary China, where Falun Gong practitioners are being persecuted for their faith.

“I think you’re not shying away from the negative sides of things. You gave the full picture. It wasn’t just about the flowers and the dancing. We really addressed some issues that were really important, and I think that’s really important for us to know,” said Ms. White.

Falun Gong—which consists of meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance—became immensely popular in China during the 1990s. The head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) grew jealous of Falun Gong and launched a persecution that has continued to this day.

Ms. White expressed her support of Shen Yun bringing this issue to the stage so that more people become aware of it.

Shen Yun’s truthful depiction of the CCP’s crimes has made the company unable to perform in China.

“It’s certainly a message you’re giving to the world ... and I think that was really powerful that you need to be out telling people,” Ms. White said.

Ms. Broadis was particularly struck by a performance that depicted people of today socializing through their phones rather than with others.

“I love the bit with the phones at the end. It’s sort of like everything is just looking at a phone rather than looking at another human being. And I think we’re losing that connection, I think, so that was beautiful,” she said.

Shen Yun will be in Glasgow until Feb. 15.
Reporting by NTD and Maria Han.
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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