NASHVILLE, Tenn.—One could say that the beauty Shen Yun Performing Arts presents is literally out of this world.
Shen Yun means “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” it revives a culture believed to be divinely inspired, and the performance begins with a piece depicting the divine world. All of this was not lost on Benjamin Salazar, an executive director of a global biopharmaceutical company, who watched Shen Yun at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center on Feb. 4.
“I thought it was a beautiful show,” said Mr. Salazar. “The theme of the show is [that] things came from a divine being, who brought us all here.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun was
founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists and quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture, which is deeply rooted in spiritual teachings from Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. These spiritual elements were abolished when the atheist
communist government took power, and Shen Yun strives to present to its audiences the beauty of China before communism.
The takeaway is [that] society … has made things focused more about material things and not really what's true of the heart and soul. That’s the essence that I got out of it.
— Benjamin Salazar
“This beautiful dance and all these traditions came from people who are seeking things about truth and spirituality,” said Mr. Salazar. ‘The takeaway is [that] society … has made things focused more about material things and not really what’s true of the heart and soul. That’s the essence that I got out of it.”
Mr. Salazar was also impressed with Shen Yun’s
orchestra, which combines traditional Chinese and Western instruments.
“It is amazing to hear actually a live orchestra,” said Mr. Salazar. He praised Shen Yun’s performers for their professionalism.
“I think everyone is impeccably professional. The musicianship and the dancing—you can tell that they’re [a] very, very, very good dance troupe. Just the synchronization, all the choreography—it is a very highly professional program.”
Reporting by Sherry Dong and Wandi Zhu.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
![Connecticut Mayor: ‘People in China Need [Shen Yun] to Remind Them of Who They Are’](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F05%2F11%2Fid5648198-1.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
