Shen Yun Performing Arts returned to Fresno, California, with three performances on Feb. 3 and 4. Audience members marveled at the performers’ artistry and praised them for their bravery.
“Aesthetically, the colors, the dances. I thought it was very rich culturally and … I was moved for the first time,” said Joe Lemieux, a realtor.
“It’s just so wonderful being able to come to a performance and seeing goodness and virtue being promoted and in a beautiful way. The music’s amazing, the costumes are phenomenal, and it’s just very uplifting,” said Victoria Vander Poel, office manager at Capstone Ranch.
“The components are all symphonic. Of course, supplemented by [traditional Chinese instruments] erhu and pipa,” said Saleh Yasser, a dentist, referring to the live orchestra.
“It’s peak. The dancers are at their peak athletic ability, probably in the whole world,” said Marta Nelson, a personal trainer and meteorologist. “I know for certain that some of those movements, some of them are very easy, and mechanical, but some of those movements take 100 percent of your ability, and your flexibility and your discipline. And so there’s just an amazing amount of discipline that goes into every single performance. And I know what that takes.”
Shen Yun performers showcase 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture through dance and music. Through classical Chinese dance, the dancers are able to convey a wide range of stories, and ethnic and folk dances.
Along with its mission to revive an ancient culture, Shen Yun also depicts pieces of modern-day China. Under the Chinese Communist Party, practitioners of a spiritual group called Falun Gong are persecuted for their faith.
“The technicality and the precision, and humor, it makes it very human,” said Karen Villavicencio, a former solo ballet dancer. “I’m choking up! I was very moved by their bravery, speaking against a communist regime. God bless all of them. They are so, so brave. And I’m proud of every single one of them.”
“I thought the stories were really good and especially the modern story was really moving. It’s really touching and sad, frankly, what the persecution, and especially the organ harvesting is just terrible,” said Jason Brents, a film producer.
“I’m really glad that they’re telling the story … to the whole world through song and dance, and using their talents for good in that way.”
“We have our world where we’re comfortable. And we don’t see the atrocities that happen in other parts of the world,” said Ms. Nelson. “And this is a really good way to bring that in without putting it out on such an ugly plate as it would be in normal discussion, I think.”
“I think one of my favorite things about it is just the boldness of telling the truth,” said Mr. Brents. “I mean, how often do you hear people say: Atheism and evolution is wicked? To say it that boldly, I appreciate that.”
“I think that the passion and the type of culture that they’re trying to bring out, they’re trying to keep a tradition that maybe now in the modern world it’s getting lost, and so I thought that it was really beautiful to see that,” said Mr. Lemieux.
Ancient Chinese believed their culture was divinely inspired. Because of that, they strived to live in harmony with heaven and earth.
“I feel like because it’s divinely inspired, you know, the person who made it or the person who wrote it, I feel like they’re very … inspired from inside, so I think it would help with the culture,” said Fidan Lo, a family physician.
“Every people and everybody in our modern day has customs, are rooted in tradition,” said Mr. Lemieux. “But as people move away from tradition, some of those customs are forgotten or lost. And in a way, it’s kind of like rediscovering people’s cultures, you know? Treasures, if you will.”
“In some ways, America is on track to lose their culture, as well,” said John Earnest, owner of Valley Cutting Systems. “I mean, it’s always been a melting pot of civilization, but we’ve at least been able to maintain some of our own cultures, and we tend to be losing that today, and this kind of is an inspiration to all of us that we might look into ourselves and, you know, recultivate the culture that we came from.”
“I think getting exposed to other cultures is a necessity, you know, otherwise you’re just living in your own small world,” said Ms. Villavicencio. “And they had their artistry, perfectionism, athleticism was just, I’ve never seen anything like it. They should all be very proud of their work.”
NTD News, Fresno, California
