ATLANTA, Ga.–Shen Yun‘s 2023 season kicked off in Atlanta at the Atlanta Symphony Hall on Dec. 24 with a whole new performance.
“I can’t think of any better place to be than right here,” said Grey Felzien, a physician who saw Shen Yun’s first performance.
“It’s just been such a great addition to the Christmas season for us,” said Gina Ann Riggs, actress and the owner of the Marietta theatre company. She saw Shen Yun with her family and said it is a great way to spend the afternoon with her husband and two kids.
Her son Chandler Riggs, who is known for his character in the television drama “The Walking Dead,” said in an Instagram post that Shen Yun has “some of the most talented performers I’ve ever seen.”
“I can’t imagine all of the hours that went into getting ready for these types of performances,” Gina said. “Great job, bravo.”
From dance to music, Shen Yun aims to bring back lost Chinese culture through art.
“I came here expecting to see beautiful dances and beautiful costumes and scenery, it’s so much more, I wasn’t expecting to hear the history,” Gina said. “I have a new appreciation for the Chinese culture that I didn’t know about before this.”
“It was a fabulous performance and a lot of variety,” said Grey. “Not just dance, but [the] song and also the instruments were fantastic.”
“The orchestra is what stood out most to me,” said Terry Hull, the director at Emory Healthcare. “It wasn’t like people dancing and moving to a track, it was [a] real performance from the orchestra.”
He added that he felt emotional watching Shen Yun. He felt that it was a tradition for him even though this is his first time seeing the performance. “I want to say it’s like this, for years and years and years, people go to see the Nutcracker ballet at the holidays. I want to see Shen Yun every holiday,” Terry said. “Because it’s that uplifting and it’s victorious.”
Grey felt enlightened after the show.
“Very inspired following this,” he said. “Hopefully through this whole show, everyone will walk away more inspired.”
Because of high demand, organizers added an extra performance in Atlanta—where Shen Yun will continue to perform until Jan. 8.
Atlanta City Councilman Alex Wan came to the theater to present a proclamation to celebrate Shen Yun’s return to Atlanta.
“I’m pleased to represent the city today, in both recognizing the performance and the tour, but also the organizers and the presenters,” he said. “We think it’s important when we have significant performance, performers, performances, and events come through our city, to honor them and recognize them.”
Shen Yun will be performing in more than 180 cities in over 20 countries on five continents over the next six months. The show will cover 42 states in the U.S. alone.
“I think that they all need to come and see it,” said Gina.
