This past weekend, Shen Yun performed across the United States, Canada, and Europe, and uplifted theatergoers with a divinely inspired culture.
Will Henrickson, group chair of CEO & Executive Peer Advisory Groups at Vistage International, said that while he has seen modern China on his business trips, he never thought he would see traditional China. “I would love to see this China come back. I think it’s, it’s glorious, and it’s beautiful. And it’s timeless.”
“There’s a sense really of humanity in all of its glory and all of its beauty. The dancing is simply remarkable,” he added.
“It brought tears to my eyes. So moving. So moving,” said Jackie Henrickson, Will’s wife. “The music was so harmonious with every movement of the dancers. So it was just an experience that is a once in a lifetime.”
“It’s so vibrant, the colors are absolutely amazing, the costume is fantastic—it’s very, very exhilarating,” said Johanne Delves, vice president of private banking at the Royal Bank of Canada.
Ancient Chinese people believed their culture was a gift from the divine, and that music, medicine, calligraphy, language, clothing, and much more were brought down from the heavens.
In the past, artists who sought inspiration from the heavens would cultivate goodness, meditate, and seek virtue. Shen Yun’s artists follow this tradition, according to the company’s website.
“It is divine and that’s kind of the inspiration as well is what’s behind it, shining through all of the precise dancing, I think is what makes it really beautiful,” said Elizabeth Welch, a Broadway actress.
“Art comes from the divine and all of the inspiration, … where creativity comes from, that divine inspiration I think fuels all of it.”
“You can really sense the pride amongst the dancers, the story, and the importance of keeping culture alive I think has come across very loud and clear,” said Delves.
However, this once-glorious culture of China was almost lost under communism as the Chinese Communist Party sought to uproot traditional beliefs, customs, and values.
“The old China, if I can say that, was culturally magnificent, and had millennia of development of culture, and some of that has certainly been thwarted or discouraged in the China of today,” said John Yakabuski, member of the Ontario Legislature.
“If they visited China, they’re not going to see this, and they’re going to see something in this performance and this company that only those viewing it outside of mainland China would ever see anything like it,” Yakabuski added.
