Shen Yun has arrived in the capital of California. Despite the rainy weather, the wet conditions did not dampen the mood of the Sacramento audience.
“They’re beautiful. I wish that I could dance like that,” said Maria Stefanou, CFO at Crestwood Behavioral Health.
Mrs. Stefanou returned to see Shen Yun for the fourth time.
“I’ve seen it in Washington DC. I’ve seen it in San Francisco. I’ve seen it twice in Sacramento … Always something fresh, something new, really lovely,” she said.
“I enjoyed it so much because some of the artwork I could actually, you know, feel it,” said Michael Lokteff, CEO at Word of Russia.
Tricia Houston, a business owner in real estate and fitness said the performance was a good opportunity to celebrate her husband’s 50th birthday and let her children experience Chinese culture.
“They were mesmerized the entire time,” she said. “The dance is so beautiful, and the colors, the vibrancy of the colors. They couldn’t keep their eyes off of the stage.”
“The passion that you can feel that comes off the stage through the dancers was just heartfelt. You can feel the emotion from them in each story that you experience,” said Houston.
Under the current Chinese communist regime, traditional morals and faiths have been nearly destroyed. She said she was moved by pieces depicting Falun Gong practitioners holding on to their faith despite the persecution.
“It’s sad to us that they can’t dance in China, but we are so fortunate and so blessed to be able to have them to come here to be able to experience that to be able to take it in, and to be able to share it with other people and to be able to tell them about what our experience has been here today,” said Houston.
“The beauty with which it was portrayed, it just warms your heart,” said Greg Vitaich, a private investigator. “It is the divinity … we are all God’s children.”
“You are the force that will drive it forward from without or within. It will happen,” said Vitaich.
“We need it today,” said Stefanou. “Because today we are moving away from culture. And we are just becoming robots.”
“And I hope for the Chinese sake and for our sake as well being able to experience this that it is passed down generation through generation,” said Houston.
Daniel Holl, NTD News, Sacramento
