SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Reminds Us That We Belong With the Divine, Says Executive Director

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Shen Yun Reminds Us That We Belong With the Divine, Says Executive Director
Ralph May attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, on Feb. 18, 2023. NTD

BOISE, Idaho—Ralph May, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul in southwest Idaho, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts on the evening of Feb. 18.

“I’ve never seen this show before, and it’s absolutely spectacular,” he said. “Just the passion and the power of the movements, and the story. Just the beauty and the movement was absolutely wonderful.”

Mr. May said, “The performers were wonderful. I had no idea people could move like that and be able to stand up afterward. It was a truly exciting performance.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, with a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
I thought it was amazing; I learned a lot. I felt very, very connected to the Chinese culture through that performance.
Ralph May

Mr. May said Shen Yun brought him closer to Chinese culture. “I thought it was amazing; I learned a lot. I felt very, very connected to the Chinese culture through that performance.”

He wasn’t previously familiar with Shen Yun, or that it could not perform in China. Many of the artists follow the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong, which teaches truth, compassion, tolerance, and followers are persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. In 2006, the performing arts company was established by leading artists, many who had fled religious persecution in China.

“Honestly, it was very fascinating to learn about the whole show. I didn’t know a lot about Shen Yun before coming to the show and so it was powerful to learn about the whole story behind the persecution and the exodus from China.”

Shen Yun, he said, is exposing communism and it’s good “to try to show the power of that in the rest of the world, to show what communist China has closed down on and is discouraging—persecuting. Discouraging isn’t a strong enough word.”

Prior to communism, the Chinese believed their culture was a gift from the divine.

The presentation of faith resonated with Mr. May and touched him deeply. “The idea of the divine and art, pursuit of the divine, and getting back to the divine, resonates very deeply with me. It was powerful.”

“It stirred me very deeply. It captured me down to my soul in many ways, just the power of the movement, back and forth, and the powerful story that was being told in each one of the segments.”

Mr. May noted how modern life has turned people from the divine.

“I think that the piece where the cellphones were out was a very powerful signal, and caused people to stop and think, because you could see yourself in that very piece. You could see the detachment we have from the divine, through our own devices and all of the distractions that exist in our modern world.”

He said Shen Yun reminds us of our true home. “So for me, of course, it’s very powerful to have something that draws us back to, and reminds us of the divine and a piece like that can lead us back to, and remind us where we belong: with the Divine.”

“[It’s] a powerfully moving show that resonates with my very soul,” Mr. May said.

Reporting by NTD and Yvonne Marcotte.
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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