FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—On Jan. 3, Robert Paulk, director of the Florida Justice Association, enjoyed Shen Yun’s evening performance at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts with Jessie Salas, an accounting firm owner, and nine-year-old Valentina.
“I thought it was a beautiful production: the music, the dancing. I’ve never seen anything quite like that. It was impressive. Beautiful that they come here to South Florida—We’ll be back again,” Mr. Paulk said.
Valentina happily chimed in that she “loved it a lot.”
“It was great. I loved the [dancers,] how they moved—everything.”
The New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded by elite Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.
For thousands of years, China’s rich civilization thrived, built on a deep belief that those who lead a virtuous life will be blessed by the divine. However, since the Chinese Communist Party’s takeover in 1949, these traditional values have been undermined and replaced with atheism.
Shen Yun’s goal is to restore the goodness and glory of China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture and share with the world its beauty before communism.
Mr. Paulk was impressed by this mission and added that China’s current regime is very authoritarian.
The communist regime “will stop 5,000 years of culture because they are in fear that their authority would be diminished by a deity or a god—so their reaction is harsh,” he said.
“We don’t have that in this country. Our foundation was built when the pilgrims came to this country to worship who they wished to worship. In China, it’s not like that because the government could lose control.” Under China’s current leadership of the communist regime, “the world is moving toward chaos.”
In full agreement, Ms. Salas said, “This is why [Shen Yun] is so famous right now, because they’re showing all the beautiful and the spiritual—what they believe in.”
She said she could “feel the pureness and harmony” of everything the artists were expressing.
Shen Yun “believes in everything that we have [in America.] Unfortunately, they have a bad government and it’s communist corruption. But that’s the beauty of this show—showing China before the communists. That’s a beautiful meaning for the kids,” she added.
“The performance was beautiful. I loved the spiritual part—how they were singing and what they were expressing—because a lot of people think China doesn’t have that. [Shen Yun] is just completely different, they’re showing that they are also believers. They believe in the Creator, they believe in God. That’s beautiful. I love it.”
Mr. Paulk was also fascinated by the spiritual element of the show and loved the traditional Chinese belief that humanity was created by the divine.
“I think that’s such a beautiful [concept,] that we are all part of God and heaven. It’s a beautiful way to view the world and I found it fascinating to see that interpretation.”
He said he would like to thank the performers “for moving around the world with a strong message and promote it in such a beautiful way.” He will be bringing home the message that “we’re all God’s children.”
“The music, the dance, the production, the way they performed—their stage presence is so strong. I’m hopeful that their work leads to a more peaceful world,” Mr. Paulk said.
Reporting by Nancy Ma and Jennifer Tseng.
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
