COSTA MESA, Calif.—Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company performed to a sold-out house at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on its second day in Southern California, on Jan. 12.
“It was wonderful. So colorful,” said Beth Swift, the mayor pro-tem for the City of Buena Park, after the show. “The dances were spectacular. The costumes were absolutely exquisite.”
“I appreciate the desire to bring morals back into the culture,” she added of Shen Yun’s performance that illustrates virtues and values of traditional Chinese culture.
Shen Yun draws upon China’s 5,000 years of culture, including human rights stories depicting the persecution of Falun Gong, an ancient mind-body practice that is still persecuted in China today.
“I feel sympathetic for those people in China who cannot worship freely like we can here in the United States,” she said.
The trademark of Shen Yun’s performances is classical Chinese dance, an art form that is both ancient and broad in its scope, bringing to life different tales from history, aspects of Chinese culture, and various ethnic dances from the Chinese region.
“Oh, it’s wonderful—the colors are beautiful, the dances are beautifully choreographed, the costumes are gorgeous the way they flow,” she said. “The dancers are just really exceptional.
“The whole cultural experience has been a great evening.”
“I think it’s very important to learn about other cultures. It gives you appreciation for other peoples of the world and their beliefs, and it gives you an ability to understand why they may do things differently,” she said.
Ms. Swift summed up the performance by saying it is “exquisite. It’s just beautiful in every way.”
Reporting by NTD Television, Ye Ke and Ben Bendig.
Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will have three performances at The Music Center in Los Angeles through to Jan. 14.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WTKCEA4tE[/video]
