LUBLIN, Poland—On Jan. 11, Shen Yun Performing Arts opened in the famous Polish city of Lublin to give the first performance of the year to the local audience. The performance was sold out, and Polish elites from various sectors came to watch it. The audience was mesmerized by the artistic beauty presented by Shen Yun and noted that traditional Chinese culture is not only beautiful but also contains profound meaning.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, with a mission to show audiences worldwide China before communism.
Lublin is the largest city in Eastern Poland, and there were two Shen Yun performances organized for the weekend of Jan. 11. However, due to the outstanding box office performance and high audience demand, the presenters scheduled another performance for Tuesday, Jan. 14. Many audience members said that they wanted to watch Shen Yun many years ago, but they hadn’t managed back then to buy tickets and could only continue to pay attention to the news about Shen Yun’s performances. This time, when they saw Shen Yun performing in Lublin, they did not hesitate to book the tickets. Their long-cherished wish finally came true.
Shen Yun conveys a message of faith, according to Leszek Gorgol, councilor and Deputy Head of the Puławski county in Lublin.
“Aesthetically, it is very, very good. Beautiful music. Wonderful performance,” said Mr. Gorgol. “It’s wonderful! Pure beauty. The dancing is amazing.”
This was Mr. Gorgol’s first time seeing Shen Yun. He greatly admired the artists for bringing wonderful traditional Chinese culture to the local area and expressed his deep gratitude to Shen Yun.
Mr. Gorgol was amazed by the 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture presented through the performance, especially the spiritual aspect of Chinese culture. He added that it was a pleasant surprise that the performance included bel canto singers, who sang original works in the Chinese language with translated lyrics appearing on the backdrop, which left a deep impression on Mr. Gorgol.
“The most important values of faith in God and reference to God were shown here very clearly,” he said.
Mr. Gorgol said that he was originally surprised that Shen Yun directly mentioned God and the Creator. Later, he learned that Shen Yun Performing Arts came from the United States and was reviving traditional culture before communism. He felt that it all made sense. He was happy to learn that night that “Chinese people also sing about God.”
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and values. Mr. Gorgol said, “This is a cultural mission, and they are very good at doing this!”
Mr. Gorgol expressed his gratitude and admiration for the Shen Yun artists. “I would like to thank them very much for their professionalism and passion. This truly conveyed positive emotions. I would like to thank them that they came to us. And we invite them to come again next year. Hats off to them.”
Culture Finds a Way
Also in attendance opening night was award-winning director and creative producer Alexey Nosau and his girlfriend Vitalina Nosava, who were amazed after watching the performance. They were particularly impressed by the five thousand years of traditional Chinese traditional culture conveyed in the two hours.
Mr. Nosau is a journalist, award-winning director and creative producer from Belarus. He has his own documentary channel with nearly 2 million subscriptions. He has won the Belarus Press Club’s Best Documentary and other awards. Mr. Nosau said that the 5,000 years of Chinese culture brought to the audience by Shen Yun is impressive and great, and that he admired Shen Yun’s mission.
“There is a political reflection about how some political government can destroy this huge old history. It won’t work in any way, any time, any period, because [culture] is something like life,” he said.
“And life always finds a path as a culture to be preserved, always finds a path to be life. And I see this approach being exemplified here.”
Ms. Nosava works as a Polish sales executive for a European software company. Thinking back to the performance she just watched, she was still excited. She said that the performance was pure and beautiful, and it even moved her to tears.
“I think it’s just beautiful,” Ms. Nosava said, adding that a classical Chinese dance piece performed by the female dancers was so beautiful as to bring her to tears. “I really cried, because of how the way they achieved such synchronization, and how they depicted different parts of their history.”
Success Story
Mr. Liu and his wife, who are Chinese, owners of a consulting company that they have since moved out of China. They drove more than three hours in the snow to Lublin from Warsaw to watch the Shen Yun performance. This was their second time watching Shen Yun in 10 years, and they said they just as moved and proud as their first performance.
“Shen Yun is amazing!” Mrs. Liu said.
Mr. Liu said that the couple has been paying attention to Shen Yun. Knowing that Shen Yun has grown bigger and bigger in the past ten years, “I heard that they have their own schools, which have trained several generations of artists, and now there are eight art companies.”
Mrs. Liu continued, “Compared to 10 years ago, this is another leap forward. I saw that the audience was very moved, and we were all very moved.”
Mrs. Liu added that she carefully checked the theater box office when buying tickets. “The Shen Yun performance is so popular that almost all the tickets are sold out.”
“Yes, every venue is packed!” Mr. Liu added.
Mr. Liu said that he recently noticed that some people are spreading false information about Shen Yun that he previously only saw in China, where the attacks on Shen Yun began as communist propaganda. He didn’t believe it would be effective.
“We all know that this is another round of attacks by the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.
All said that they would watch Shen Yun again if given the chance, said Mr. Liu.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
From The Epoch Times
