NEW YORK—Gregory Reid gained a real understanding of true Chinese beliefs for the first time on Saturday night. “How [Chinese] look at life and eternity,” Mr. Reid said. “I never really knew that. It’s been so enlightening to me in that respect.”
Mr. Reid, an attorney and chairman of National Minority Business Council, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Shen Yun’s celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year captured the audience, who cheered on a curtain call.
“It’s been an enriching experience,” Mr. Reid said. “I hope that more people come to this show because it’s really a once in a lifetime experience.”
The combination of music, dance, costumes, philosophy, and culture of China, impressed Mr. Reid. Shen Yun’s choreography ranges from grand imperial processions to legions of thunderous drums, with gorgeously costumed dancers moving in stunning synchronized patterns.
The New York-based performing arts company seeks to revive the true, five-millennium-old artistic tradition of China that thrived before decades of suppression by the Chinese communist state.
One of the songs by soprano Min Jiang, “Your Own Choice” begins with the lines: “The river of time flows on, the years rush by. For what were the many reincarnations?”
Geng Haolan, the second soprano elicited an encore from the receptive audience.
“I love the music. I love the dance,” Mr. Reid said. “I’ve enjoyed myself tremendously tonight.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company opened its first show of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Saturday. Shen Yun will perform at Radio City Music Hall in New York the weekends of Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21.
With reporting by Joshua Philipp.
For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
