WASHINGTON—Ms. Li, who had just arrived in the U.S. from China’s Jiangsu Province as a psychiatry intern, attended the Shen Yun performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on Feb. 2.
Ms. Li says that although she had watched Shen Yun DVDs while in China, attending the show in person was a completely different experience.
From her psychiatrist point of view, Ms. Li senses that Shen Yun’s artists are performing with their soul: “I feel like they are being supported by a great force of faith.”
She said, “The show presented traditional Chinese culture. I loved every bit of it, especially the erhu performance. Before today I had never thought of the erhu’s tone as anything but shrill and melancholy, but today I truly saw its grace and beauty. If my mother were here, she'd love watching Shen Yun, too.”
“‘Why can’t a Chinese cultural show be seen in its homeland?’” the Shen Yun website asks. “The explanation dates back to the Cultural Revolution and systematic attempts to wipe out the heritage of 5,000 years of civilization. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture,” the website states.
Though she misses her family overseas, Ms. Li says she spent a wonderful evening watching Shen Yun.
Also in attendance was Mr. Zhang from Washington D.C. He had attended Shen Yun several times, Mr. Zhang says that he goes home with a different experience every time. This time, he was especially awed by the show’s backdrops.
“When the Sand Monk jumped out of the river, [Sand Monk Is Blessed] he seemed to come to life. Those splashes and waves were just so real.”
He says, “Shen Yun’s classical Chinese dance is the emblem of traditional Chinese culture. The performers are gentle and natural and exhibit a high level of self-cultivation. We should live and act the way Shen Yun performers do.”
Through Shen Yun, the true essence of China’s 5,000-year-old civilization is brought to audiences around the world.
Mr. Zhang believes that the moral values that Shen Yun exhibits are closely related to that seen in Western society; Shen Yun’s world-class performance and the dedication of its performers has attracted many Washington theatergoers.
Edited from a Chinese article.
Read the original Chinese article.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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