SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘I Came to See Shen Yun With My Eyes, but I See With My Spirit,’ Audience Member Says

Apr 17, 2022

CALGARY, Canada—Shen Yun Performing Arts is delighting audiences across the globe with its world-class presentation of five millennia of traditional Chinese dance and music. The colorful production depicts the true story of China’s ancient culture, one that has largely been lost following decades of rule by the communist regime.

The New York-based performing arts company graced the stage at the Southern Albert Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary on April 16 and left theatergoers in awe with its performance.

It was the first time that Kourosh Khajé had seen Shen Yun, and he loved it, said the professional engineer and managing director of the Energy, Science and Technology Corporation.

“It was so beautiful,” said Mr. Khajé, who found the performers, costumes, music, and synchronization amazing.

While he enjoyed all of the different stories portrayed by the dancers, the piece Blue Heaven stood out, telling the story of a sacred phoenix that can magically transform into a heavenly maiden.

Another aspect that left an impression on him was Shen Yun’s depiction of events in China that began with the creation of Chinese civilization up until the present day.

Mr. Khajé was also captivated by Shen Yun’s digital backdrops, which use a patented method that allows the performers to seemingly travel back and forth between the stage and the animated background scenery.

He praised the vocalist as well the instrumental solo played on the erhu, the two-stringed Chinese violin.

Mr. Khajé also expressed support for Shen Yun’s mission of restoring China’s original authentic culture.

“I think that history is important to remember. I think it’s very good that every generation and every culture should know about it,” he said.

Shen Yun brought hope, said Mr. Khajé, who found the music, dance, and colors inspiring and even felt an impulse to jump onto the stage to join the performers.

It was a joyful atmosphere, he said, noting that Shen Yun conveyed to him that message that “[a] better future is there as long as we learn and respect each other.”

Shen Yun Brings Out Our Emotions

Also in the audience were Luis and Esperanza Galban.

Mr. Galban, the owner of a construction company, said that he was awestruck by his encounter with Shen Yun and that he experienced many emotions.

“It was beautiful, it’s amazing—the colors, the organization. I’m in another world, in another space, in wonder, in imagination,” he said.

He felt a strong spiritual connection with Shen Yun that left him wondering whether he was dreaming, he noted. And he wondered if the performance was connected to a past experience.

“I don’t know exactly how to explain to you in English because it’s my second language, but I was feeling this when I was watching [the performers]. ... I [was] feeling myself inside them,” he explained.

Ms. Galban had a similar experience. “I [am] feeling so good. I [am] feeling that I have been living in the past. I’m feeling that I have been there before. I don’t know why,” she said.

The song “To Heaven in This Lifetime,” sung by one of Shen Yun’s vocalist, touched her heart with “all the words that he was [singing, about how] people forgot heaven in the past life, and now it’s time to go back to the heaven,” said Ms. Galban.

Her inner being felt beautiful, and it was very spiritual, she said.

Mr. Galban said the same song also touched his heart.

And he noted that his emotions especially ran deep when he was watching the dance story that portrayed the Chinese communist regime’s persecution of the Falun Dafa spiritual practice. He said he experienced chills and goosebumps.

“I believe in God. I came to see [Shen Yun] with my eyes, but I see with my spirit,” he said.

Reporting by Sunny Chen and Diane Cordemans. The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.