SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shows What ‘Can Never Be Wiped out Completely,’ Says Rabbi

Apr 16, 2023

NEW YORK—Brigitte Taylor, a senior manager, was visiting her mother, Marcelle Hohl, a rabbi, in New York when the two decided to see Shen Yun Performing Arts, catching the last performance in Lincoln Center on April 16.

“I loved it. It was really brilliant. Just the music, the choreography, it was so unique. It was really enjoyable,” said Ms. Taylor.

“I think, a bit of an eye-opener for everything that happened before communist rule. I had no idea how rich the culture had been before, and that’s partly why I would recommend it to learn more about Chinese culture.”

Marcelle Hohl enjoyed Shen Yun with her daughter at Lincoln Center on April 16, 2023. (Lily Yu/The Epoch Times) — Marcelle Hohl enjoyed Shen Yun with her daughter at Lincoln Center on April 16, 2023. Lily Yu/The Epoch Times

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Its mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, described recently as “China before communism.”

Ms. Hohl said she greatly enjoyed the cultural revival Shen Yun created.

“I think that it is amazing, that it’s very touching, and I really felt the need to bring back this part of China. If it is not talked about, it’s going to disappear, and I think the show did a great job doing that. Some parts it’s hilarious, some parts it’s sad, but the whole package is very touching,” she said.

She said she felt the “tragedy of people having their culture cut off by a new regime, with a total lack of respect of what’s being done in terms of tradition and the effort to have it wiped out.”

“I remember one of the performances that touched me because I’m clergy right, I’m a religious person—redemption coming from the divine and redemption coming from heaven, and after the tragedy happens there is this hope that this is going to be preserved for something that is holier than something that happens on earth. There is a bigger purpose than that. And I think that this bigger purpose is being fulfilled here.”

“It was countering this need of a new rule to wipe out everything that is sacred, everything that transcends us. In the show you see that—in spite of all the tragedy, this persists, this remains. It’s something that can never be wiped out completely because it is higher than us.”

Ms. Hohl said the performance conveyed not only hope but joy.

She wanted to tell the artists, “It was a joy to see you perform, and we can feel your joy in performing, so congratulations, and keep doing the great job that you are doing. And as my grandson said, ‘we hope to see them next year!’”

Reporting by Lily Yu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.