ALBANY, N.Y.—Composer and conductor Emory Waters and Ann Meiler, a retired aging specialist, enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts for the second time at the Proctors Theatre on April 14.
They enjoyed the performance so much last year, they knew they had to return for more.
“It was such a spiritual experience. I was in tears,” Ms. Meiler said. “The beauty and the Zen of it in the flow and balance was absolutely incredible. It was just so spiritual.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company dedicated to reviving China’s rich culture, nearly lost under decades of communist rule. Its performances feature a series of short dances highlighting various regions of China, along with solo musical pieces.
Reflecting on the story-based dance raising awareness for the persecution of Falun Dafa, a spiritual belief whose followers adhere to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, Ms. Meiler said: “It’s so important what [the artists] are doing.”
“This is what I’m really passionate about, and this is what I try to encourage people to know about what’s going on in the world. It’s not just China, it’s all over the world. So, this is so important to my heart.”
As a musician, Mr. Waters especially enjoyed Shen Yun’s live orchestra, which draws on a classic Western orchestra as a foundation to highlight traditional Chinese melodies and instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and the ancient lute, the pipa.
“It’s fascinating, it’s beautiful. I like the blending of the two cultural instruments,” he stated. “I composed a couple of ballets, so I really admired how they combined the music. The musical cues and the stage cues were really well coordinated. The music really expressed what was happening on the stage, and the stage expressed what was happening in the music.”
“I was surprised to learn last year that the orchestra travels with the show. In a lot of shows, they hire local people, but I saw that [in Shen Yun,] it’s the same orchestra that goes wherever the company goes.”
Ms. Meiler was also deeply moved by the artists’ mission to bring back traditional culture and moral values. However, due to Shen Yun’s dedication to presenting the truth about events under communist rule in present-day China, it is currently forbidden by the regime to perform there.
“That was beautiful, it was just so touching—the whole thing about evil and goodness, love conquers all,” Ms. Meiler said.
“I just think it’s such a transcending [experience,] it really is. The message about why [Shen Yun] is doing this is so important—it’s never on regular media, they don’t show any of this. This is what we’ve got to do—get it mainstream, all over the world. I just honor all the people that have suffered during this [persecution.] A lot of people don’t want to know about it or talk about it, but we have to. Awareness is the first part of changing.”
