Shen Yun Performing Arts returned to the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 9 for the second time this touring season. For most, it was their first time seeing it. They attended with their families.
“We had a lovely time. It was absolutely brilliant. I think the colors, the costumes, the choreography, the dancing—all of that was very, just aesthetically astounding,” said Ronald Schoedel, a professor at Brigham Young University and attorney, who attended with his wife and daughter. “I think also, there’s a really beautiful, spiritual, and emotional element too that I really appreciate. I think it touched me.”
After the Cultural Revolution, much of traditional Chinese culture was nearly lost. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive it on stage.
“There’s a lot of beauty in China,” said Sterling Oaks, an area senior vice president at Gallagher, who attended with his wife and five children. “There’s a lot of wonderful culture, and unfortunately there’s some things going on with the government that are really sad. Persecution of the people, et cetera, so I think a lot of the people aren’t party to what’s really going on. But unfortunately it’s happening and there just needs to be awareness of it.”
Under the Chinese Communist Party, those with spiritual beliefs are persecuted for their faith. This includes Falun Dafa practitioners, who are depicted in the performance.
“It just portrays and shows and makes a statement about what is reality versus what has been conjured up by conniving people, by people who have different goals, different alternative motives, and it’s really kind of sad to see that go away,” said Paul Taggart, founder of PMD Personal Microderm. “It’s refreshing to see that at one time, there was a strong belief in heaven, in morals, in values, and a greater good, than, you know, would exist today with communism.”
NTD News, Salt Lake City, Utah
