Shen Yun Dancing ‘Absolutely Supreme,’ Says Financial Company President
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The Smeallies enjoyed Shen Yun at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater, in Salt Lake City, on Feb. 24, 2023. Yue Yi/The Epoch Times
SALT LAKE CITY—During every Shen Yun Performing Arts performance, the emcees give an explanation of the company’s name. “Shen” means “divine” in Chinese, and in classical Chinese dance, “yun” is the feeling behind a movement, the essence or emotion that drives the dancer into motion. “Shen Yun” therefore translates in English to “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”
At the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater on Feb. 24, the audience in Salt Lake City felt just how the dancers were able to live up to this name.
Doug and Christine Smeallie had been interested in Shen Yun for years, having seen billboards, and Mr. Smeallie decided it would make for a special anniversary gift. New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance company and has, in recent years, been credited with not just the revival of the art form but has set a new standard for this ancient dance form.
Mrs. Smeallie, a violinist, has been around classical dance for years, as her daughters dance professionally. “I’m more of a sports guy,” said Mr. Smeallie, chief investigator at a law firm, “but I really enjoyed the athleticism of the performers and the emotion that’s portrayed in the stories that they tell. I really enjoyed it.”
Mrs. Smeallie, too, was impressed with the athleticism and expressivity of the dancers.
“I also appreciate the discipline and the synchronicity, the perfection,” she said. “It’s just beautiful, that it’s elegant, it’s energetic. I feel the emotion on their faces. And that transmits to the audience. It’s very moving and very stunning.”
“They’re expressing their inner feelings, and they give some blessings that I feel are divine in each person,” Mrs. Smeallie said. “And I feel they are expressing that as they are constantly doing, executing their gift and their talent to share with us.”
Warren Ricks enjoyed Shen Yun at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater, in Salt Lake City, on Feb. 24, 2023. Mary Mann/The Epoch Times
Warren Ricks, president of a financial company, felt each dance was “phenomenal.”
“I really think that it was well worth watching in every way,” Mr. Ricks said. “the quality is supreme. Absolutely supreme.”
“They have done a fabulous job. And I’m very touched, and I feel like it has portrayed it very, very well and made us really enjoy this night,” said Mr. Ricks, who added that there were some touching scenes in the story that nearly brought a tear to the eye.
“It has touched my heart,” he said. “It has given us a thrill to be here.”
The Ainsworth family enjoyed Shen Yun at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on Feb. 24, 2023. Mary Mann/The Epoch Times
For 5,000 years, the Chinese people believed their culture was a gift from the heavens, and prior to the communist takeover in 1949, China was deeply spiritual.
Larry Ainsworth, a retired hospital executive, attended the performance with three generations of his family in a party of nine.
“The dance was just fabulous. I mean, it’s just really high quality,” he said.
He and his wife Laura felt at home with traditional Chinese culture’s belief that there is a divine Creator and that humankind came originally from the heavens. The values they saw in the culture, like compassion, loyalty, and faith, felt universal.
“I think it’s very important to preserve the original, beautiful Chinese culture,” said Mrs. Ainsworth, who felt Shen Yun had done so beautifully. “It was lovely. The technology for the graphics is just beautiful. All the colors were beautiful. The costumes—beautiful. Dancing, everything was just lovely.”
For Michael Lynch, senior vice president at a healthcare corporation, Shen Yun shed light on a China that was once almost lost.
“I think most people know that the Cultural Revolution got rid of most of [traditional culture], so it’s very interesting to learn about ... this and not have any of the communism with it,” said Mr. Lynch, who is of Vietnamese descent and was familiar with some of the stories told through dance, such as a vignette from the classic “Journey to the West.”
“I felt good, and kind of enlightening to know,” he said. “This is very important, this thing. I think the artists are wonderful; I mean, it’s really world-class ... flawless. Not that anybody needs to be perfect, but I think they’re perfect.”
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