NORFOLK, Va.—Dr. Claudio D. Divino found many things to resonate with when he watched
Shen Yun Performing Arts on Jan. 7 at Chrysler Hall. Dr. Divino teaches cross-cultural communications, world religions, and ministry at the Mid-Atlantic Christian University.
“I was especially impressed with the concept that the show brings to us,” said Dr. Divinio. “That we have more meaning in life than just being here.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese
artists who made it their mission to revive traditional Chinese culture through classical Chinese dance and music. Shen Yun seeks to show its audiences the beauty of China, including its belief in the divine, before the country was overtaken by a communist regime that enforced
atheistic ideas.
Shen Yun’s opening piece depicts divine beings following the Creator to descend to the Earth and establish Chinese civilization. As an Associate Professor of Ministry, and a scholar of religions himself, the concept of a Creator was not at all foreign to Dr. Divino, who showed a deep appreciation for it.
“We are not here because of evolution,” Dr. Divino said. “We are not here because of atheism. We believe in a Creator, we believe in someone who’s above us. This person is the one who created us, and He created us for our missions. And sometimes when people are here on this Earth, they just [lose] contact—they live their lives completely isolated from each other. Most importantly, they don’t look back. They [don’t know] who created them. So they don’t look back to the person who actually created them, who cares about them.”
We live because there is a Creator that cares about us. That’s the message.
— Dr. Claudio D. Divino
Dr. Divino felt that the
performance was more than just entertainment. “We live because there is a Creator that cares about us. That’s the message. There is a Creator, and this Creator wants us to go back to who [we] were—that’s the message I got from [the performance]. It’s an amazing show.”
Dr. Divino also expressed his respect for Shen Yun’s artistic director, D.F. “I’d love to meet him,” he said. “I think D.F. understands that we live in a time where people are falling apart, not only because of the lack of connections with each other, [which] leads people to be frustrated. And when they get frustrated, they move [in] directions that are against what the Creator has put together for us.”
“I’m impressed with everything he (D.F.) has been doing [and] the message that he brings to all the people in the world.”
Reporting by Terri Wu 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.
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