SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

The Cultural Experience That Shen Yun Brings Is Insurmountable, Says Arizona State Representative

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The Cultural Experience That Shen Yun Brings Is Insurmountable, Says Arizona State Representative
Arizona State Rep. David Cook and his wife Diana attended Shen Yun's evening performance at the Mesa Arts Center on Feb. 8, 2024. Lily Yu /The Epoch Times

MESA, Ariz.—State Rep. David Cook, chair of the international trade committee of Arizona’s House of Representatives, attended Shen Yun’s third and final performance on Feb. 8, at the Mesa Arts Center. He was accompanied by his wife Diana.

The couple thought the experience was amazing.

“The cultural experience that [Shen Yun] brings to Arizona and the people is insurmountable. It’s been beautiful, beautiful,” Mr. Cook said.
The New York-based Shen Yun was established in 2006 by leading Chinese artists seeking to revive China’s 5,000 years of civilization that was destroyed by decades of communist rule.

Through classical Chinese, folk, ethnic, and story-based dances, as well as solo musical performances, Shen Yun is showcasing to the world—the glory of China before communism.

Referring to the artists’ mission to bring back traditional culture, Mr. Cook said that’s what brought him to the show.

“That’s why I’m here tonight—to accept the cultural experience and try to bridge that gap between the problems with the Chinese government and the American government,” he said.

“I would really like to get our international trade committee to the Democrats and Republicans, and I’m going to see if I can get them to attend the next performance.”

Averroes Paracha attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Mesa Arts Center on Feb. 8, 2024. (Sally Sun/The Epoch Times)
Averroes Paracha attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Mesa Arts Center on Feb. 8, 2024. Sally Sun/The Epoch Times

Also in the audience was Averroes Paracha, who works in insurance. He, too, thought the performance was “absolutely fantastic.”

“I fully appreciated when [the hosts] told us that this is all Chinese. Some of the jumping and things that seemed like they were from Western gymnastics, in fact, came from Chinese culture. That made it more meaningful,” he said.

“I liked the idea that with every [flip and technique] that the body does, there was a moral story to it as well. You could follow the story. Even in the ancient times, among the Greeks, when they had their theater, it was not purely for the purpose of entertainment. It was there for education.”

Mr. Paracha also enjoyed the divine aspect of Shen Yun and the message that it delivered.

“I had been wanting to watch this for a long time. The performance is amazing. I appreciated the message as well,” he said.

“I thought the message was really positive. I liked the idea of truth, forbearance, and compassion. That was a good message. This is an amazing show by itself but it had a very strong spiritual and moral component. You could follow it without words. The orchestra was phenomenal.”

For its 2024 touring season, Shen Yun’s eight equally-sized companies will be performing in over 200 cities across five continents.

Every year, the company can be expected to return with a brand-new set of choreography and musical compositions.

“We live in a hyper-material world. We’re all like that to one degree or the other. I think some of us choose to participate—voluntary sinners—and some of it is from ignorance. So, it’s nice to actually have a refreshing message,” Mr. Paracha added.

Reporting by Lily Yu, Sally Sun, and Jennifer Tseng.
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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