California state Sen. Brian Jones presented a proclamation welcoming Shen Yun Performing Arts. He said he was impressed after watching a performance in Escondido.
“I was very impressed that they must work out quite a bit and practice quite a bit to get the timing right, and do all those flips and all those movements in sync … so that it looks good and sounds good,” Mr. Jones said.
Similarly, Adrienne Cisneros-Selekman, a community liaison from San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond’s office, presented a proclamation declaring a Shen Yun Performing Arts day.
“Whereas Shen Yun Performing Arts is one such worthy organization, now therefore, be it proclaimed, that Jim Desmond, by virtue of authority vested in him as the 5th District Supervisor in the county of San Diego, do hereby proclaim today, February 8th, 2023, a Shen Yun Performing Arts day, in recognition of their exquisite interpretation of traditional Chinese culture and dance. Congratulations,” Ms. Cisneros-Selekman read from the proclamation.
“I liked the costumes and the stories that each individual vignette told, and how it was all related to things happening in China in the past, and even things happening in China now,” said Leah de la Cerra, owner of Leah Neal Therapy Services. “But also the way it was all integrated with the digital background, and there was humor. So, I mean, humor, history, beautiful costumes, dancing.”
“The music was great. I love the girl that played the [two-stringed erhu]. I thought that was beautiful,” said Susan Rusthoven, CFO of Progressive Technology Security Systems Inc. “And it was great having an orchestra. We were in the second row, so we got to hear the orchestra very well. Very good.”
“What I hear [are] influences of just Western classical [music] and … then the melodies which are very beautiful,” said Tommy Kind, a guitarist. “It’s all very heavenly.”
Traditional Chinese culture was inspired by the heavens. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive this nearly-extinct culture through dance and music worldwide.
“[It] showed me a lot of the culture. And through the stories, it showed me a lot through what was happening in the past and in the future. So on that part, it was really interesting because it showed all that,” said Ms. Rusthoven.
“The lyrics obviously come from a position of faith, right? There’s obviously some religious symbolism behind that which I thought was interesting,” said Mr. Jones. “I thought one of the messages throughout the performance that I hope Americans pick up on is how important the First Amendment is to all of us here in the United States as a cornerstone of our Constitution and that the message about China infringing on those—infringing on freedom of speech.”
Shen Yun also shows modern-day China, where people are persecuted for their faith and through perseverance, they are given hope.
“It makes you appreciate the time, the gifts, the privileges, and the rights that we have here in America—makes you really thankful. And I’m glad that you can play it here so that we can find out about the history of China,” said Ms. de la Cerra.
“I think that godlessness is kind of going rampant, and that is the cause of so much suffering in the world that it’s painful,” said Mr. Kind. “When I see people doing what you [Shen Yun] people are doing and uplifting the public spiritually, I think it’s fantastic. And I think everybody should support you and just try to spread the message.”
“I think just being reminded about those things—it’s easy to lose track of them, especially like the cell phone,” said Ms. de la Cerra. “[The] part about the cell phones and people losing track of the things that are important—hopefully, it doesn’t take a tragedy to make people remember those things.”
“I thought it helped portray the story and the messaging of what was the divine belief a long time ago before communism came in and ruined everything, and it’s amazing they’re still there,” said Ms. Cisneros-Selekman. “It’s good to let people know how beautiful a lot of these cultures, especially Chinese culture was, and what they believed in and how they survived after all these thousands of years. We have to have a voice for them, and I will tell a lot of my friends about this too.”
NTD News, Escondido, California
