DALLAS, Texas—Randall Smith, a performing artist, and Chris King, a director at a consulting firm, wrapped up their year by watching
Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the AT&T Performing Arts Center–Winspear Opera House on Dec. 31. Mr. Smith said that he had been “wanting to see it for a long time,” and Mr. King disclosed that it was his idea to finally see the performance.
“I very much enjoyed the show,” Mr. Smith said. “I’m a dance performer myself, so being able to see all this wonderful storytelling and the embodiment of Chinese nationalism, culture, identity—this is so beautiful.”
Mr. King said that he was surprised to learn that
Shen Yun is based in New York. Founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists who fled the Chinese Communist Party’s oppressive rule, Shen Yun’s
mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture through authentic classical Chinese dance and music.
Mr. King was touched by the values in Shen Yun’s performance and praised the
dancers’ beauty.
“I think the show was beautiful,” he said. “Just the artistry, being able to harken back to a time that seems long forgotten, and the kind of the ideals of
being pure and really following our principles and our morality and everything like that ... speaks to me, and I just think it’s beautiful. It’s a lot of work and time and effort goes into that, and commitment. It just shows the dancers are beautiful.”
Although most of Shen Yun’s dances present the beauty of ancient China before communism, there are also story-based dances that are set in modern-day China. Some of the pieces depict the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of followers of
Falun Dafa; a spiritual practice that teaches people to aspire to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, tolerance.
“They’re speaking about some of the things that people are fighting for,” Mr. King said. “I think it’s very important for folks to know about [it].”
The roots of traditional Chinese culture are in the spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. According to the Shen Yun website, most of Shen Yun’s
performers meditate and practice self-cultivation to create art that is truly beautiful.
“Even from the musicians to the singer, you definitely feel the spirituality of that sense of humanity within the work as a whole,” Mr. Smith said. “Even the two announcers, just being able to have that being a part of the storytelling too. You don’t usually see that in shows, but I think that is a beautiful way of incorporating all of humanity—not just performance, but the real-life connection of spirituality from person to person and story to story.”
Mr. King said that he could see the performer’s commitment to the performance and their craft.
“I can really tell [that], for the performers, they’re performing for something that mean something to them,” he said. “You can tell there’s a deep commitment to it. I like that they’re trying to share the story with us, because I don’t think a lot of people would know about it. And the fact that they do it and they do it so well, you can tell … it’s not just about the enjoyment of what they do but that it’s something that’s deep within, and it comes out in their dancing.”
The two gentlemen also had plenty of words of praise and encouragement for
the performers, sincerely conveying their admiration, respect, and gratitude.
“You’re so amazing,” Mr. Smith said. “Keep going, don’t stop. I know it’s probably really hard with
the training and the amount of hours and time ... but keep going. Every single performer on the stage definitely has my full faith and praise, and hope for them that they are getting everything that they are working hard for and [that] they desire in life. Because it shows, it shows through the work. So keep going, keep going.”
Mr. King expressed his agreement with Mr. Smith’s well-wishes and added that Shen Yun’s performance was “something that we don’t get to experience very much from day to day.”
“Keep going, keep doing it, because … you’re sharing a story, you’re sharing something that’s meaningful, and people need to see that—the world needs to see that. So definitely, we just appreciate all that you do and all the commitment and effort that goes into it. I’m sure it’s just countless hours but it shows with the pristine perfection that they have in their dance skills. So thank you for sharing with us.”
Reporting by Yeawen Hung and Wandi Zhu.
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