WATERBURY, Conn.—Ariel Baez, a professor of languages, was gifted an encyclopedia by his parents at the age of 4 and became fascinated with the dynasties of ancient China.
At the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Connecticut, he saw this ancient culture come to life in Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“I feel the connection in China a lot,” said Mr. Baez on Dec. 28. “This is very impressive because the world needs to know about what are the roots, ancient roots, ancient historical background, and the cultures of China. China is a very enriched place of cultures around the world.”
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, with a mission to show the world China before communism.
“Communism was in 1949,” said Mr. Baez, pointing to its short history in China. “China has another mentality.”
“People are always talking about the food. Food is not only in China. China is more than that. China is traditions. China is culture. China is beautiful, China is arts, China is music,” Mr. Baez said.
In Shen Yun’s performance, he saw the many regions and peoples of China, dances from the imperial courts of various dynasties, and stories and legends spanning five millennia.
Traditional Chinese culture is a divinely inspired culture, and Mr. Baez said he felt connected to the spirituality of that culture.
“Many people don’t know. They don’t know about the historical background of China, including the historical religions of China and the spiritual feelings of the people of China,” he said.
He commended the artists for their dedication and excellence.
“They show not only compassion, they showed empathy with others, they showed mercy, they showed love, they showed heart toward other people, how to help people, no matter what is the government, what is the maybe the dictatorship in that time, no matter them, the people always, always show what is the real roots of the Chinese people about religions, about spirituality, and about tradition, and about love,” he said.
He said the performance was a “masterpiece.”
“It’s very hard work. It’s hard work, dedicated work, not only for months, years, maybe for the whole life. It’s a dedication,” he said.
“My congratulations, my admiration for them, my sympathy for them, that they show that they are dedicated to sending a message, to delivering a message to the whole people around the world about what is the real China, what is the real people of China, what is the heart, what is the feelings of those people,” he said.
“We are human beings around the world, and we have the same feelings,” he said. “Excellent performance. Astonishing. Amazing. Awesome. … It’s a very organized program. Very accurate, organized, and precise.”
Reporting by Nanyu Lin and Catherine Yang.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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