AUGUSTA, Ga.—When the curtain rose on Shen Yun Performing Arts, Judge John Long was in awe of the beauty on stage.
“It’s like watching grace and beauty unfold,” Judge Long said at the matinee performance on Feb. 17 at the Columbia County Performing Arts Center.
That first scene gave him a sort of “revolutionary feel,” he explained. It was the colors, choreography, and dance, but also the unique stagecraft of Shen Yun.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, renowned for reviving an ancient art in its most authentic form. It also employs innovative technology by the way of its patented backdrop, bringing audiences through time and space.
“We weren’t exactly sure how the show was going to play with the screens in the background. And it’s a very emotional experience,“ Judge Long said. ”It’s been very exciting to see how all that unfolds, and just watching the creativity.”
Through music and dance, Shen Yun aims to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. It is said to be divinely inspired, and for thousands of years, the Chinese believed their culture to be a gift from the heavens.
In Shen Yun’s representation of this traditional culture, Judge Long saw universal values.
“There’s a higher power, and there’s something that’s divine in all of us, and inspirational for all of us that just kind of transcends government and geography,“ he said. ”It’s just something for everybody to experience.”
“I think it’s got something for people, it makes people think about life in general, and specifically about the power of the Chinese culture,” he added. “How ancient that civilization is, and how much beauty and grace that this exhibition puts on for them.”
Reporting by Sherry Dong 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.
