Shen Yun Performing Arts returned to Spokane, Washington, with two performances. Audience members appreciated the artistry on April 12.
“It was truly amazing,” said Tina Sander, a realtor. “I’ve been wanting to see it for so long. And seeing all the colors on the stage on the screen, it wasn’t the same as seeing it in person. The movement and seeing the faces and the expression, seeing the dancers breathe, just how much work and effort they put into it—it just brought it to life.”
“The symmetry was wonderful. Some of the moves and the choreography and such and yet, it wasn’t perfectly symmetrical, it was not rigid. It was very fluid and almost sort of natural, in a very inspired sort of way,” said Roger Engelbertson, a pilot.
“The music was just amazingly great,” said Robert Heitman, CEO of West Terrace Golf LLC. “And not to take anything away from the dancers and the performers because they were unbelievably wonderful, and their choreography was great, and the colors and the story was also good. But yet, what brought it all together was the music. We’re not used to hearing all the different instruments we heard tonight. So it was very, very enjoyable for me to listen to that and to hear the whole thing. And it was really nice. Thank you.”
Shen Yun combines dance and music to show 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture and tell stories. But this was nearly lost under the Chinese Communist Party. The performance cannot be seen in China today, but its mission is to revive the culture by touring around the world.
“We live in the U.S., so we don’t really see this going on. We see injustice in certain ways, but something like this where you’re like, you can’t even do something like this where it’s an art form. It’s just really interesting,” said Rachael Maygren, a model.
“The Communist Party in general [is] giving China a very bad name,” said Roger Engelbertson. “It’s too bad because they’re beautiful people and they have a fantastic culture, clearly. That’s what was wonderful about this: to get sort of a taste and a little view of that culture.“
“Just to know that there’s so much more to learn about China than what we know. And actually, it makes me think I need to learn more about the religious and spiritual aspects of China that I don’t know anything about,” said Debby Engelbertson. “And I actually have a quest to do that now.”
“It just made me smile a lot,” said Sander. “You know, in the last couple of years, [there] hasn’t been a lot of smiling. And it was just so nice to not think about world problems and to enjoy the culture and the history and smile.”
“I found myself as well, near the end especially, saying to myself: you know what, I’m uplifted. I feel happier than I did when I came in. I didn’t know if I could fully explain that. But it’s a wonderful experience,” said Roger Engelbertson. “I’d recommend this to anyone, truly.
NTD News, Spokane, Washington