OGDEN, Utah—“It touches my heart,” said Judy Tom. Ms. Tom had just seen a performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company at The Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts. She sees the show every time it comes to Ogden.
“Oh, I loved it. I have got to come every time,” said Ms. Tom, a lead supervisor for the IRS, the city’s largest employer, with over 5,000 staff.
Being half Chinese, Ms. Tom felt especially moved by Shen Yun’s dedication to restoring traditional Chinese culture and art.
New York-based Shen Yun is made up of top artists, singers, dancers, and musicians from around the world. “With a passion for the classical arts, they join Shen Yun in its mission to revive a culture that was once almost lost,” according to the Shen Yun website.
Accompanying Ms. Tom on March 13 was her daughter, Georgette, a dental assistant. “This time I brought my daughter … to give her the experience, yes.”
“I loved it, great experience,” Georgette said.
At the heart of Shen Yun is classical Chinese dance, a comprehensive dance system that is so expressive it is capable of depicting stories, solely through dance. As such, Shen Yun brings to life ancient stories and legends of wisdom, virtue, and courage, showing the true cultural heritage of the Chinese people.
“It just makes me feel emotional because we have heritage, you know, with China ... it’s another way to touch the roots, to make the connection with our blood lines,” Ms. Tom said.
Georgette enjoyed the male dancers: “You know my favorite is always the warriors, just any kind of warriors. I always loved the warriors.”
Ms. Tom said the dancers “are all so wonderful. They are so talented, very in sync. You can tell they work very hard. I can almost say they are perfect! Really.”
Ms. Tom said she keeps coming back because the performances are completely new each year: “It was different than the one I saw in 2010, and I liked the variety. I was thinking it might be—it was similar, in a sense, but it was way different, too. I think it was better than the one in 2010, so it gets better each time.”
Ms. Tom was impressed with the last dance this year. Divine Mercy explores the theme of the battle between good and evil. In it, people of faith gather to demonstrate in support of their beliefs until the police intervene.
In actuality, the peaceful spiritual practice Falun Dafa is brutally suppressed in China today. In the dance, “Heaven protects the righteous, and goodness ultimately triumphs,” according to the program notes.
She was moved by the drama and “just the finality of it,” said Ms. Tom, speaking of the closing dance.
“I definitely will come again. Each year it seems to get better and better,” she said.
Reporting by Youzhi Ma and Sharon Kilarski.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company is scheduled to perform at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Las Vegas, March 15–17. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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