SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun’s Music Is Good for the Soul, Says Latin Songwriter

Feb 05, 2023

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Guitarist and songwriter Ivan Najera and his wife Karen attended Shen Yun Performing Arts on the afternoon of Feb. 4 at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center in Sacramento, California.

“I was super attracted to this show for the music,” said Mr. Najera, who composes Latin jazz dance music and whose performances showcase the polish, precision, and passion of his concerts. “I play Latin American, Spanish and world music, and [Shen Yun’s music] is just so beautiful.”

I was amazed to see so many young people playing so well, incredibly well, really tight and the compositions were phenomenal.

— Ivan Najera

“I was amazed to see so many young people playing so well, incredibly well, really tight and the compositions were phenomenal; I was taken by the harpist and then the two-stringed ‘violin,’ I thought that was phenomenal, phenomenal!” Mr. Najera was referring to the erhu, a two-stringed instrument that is thousands of years old. Each Shen Yun company tours with its own orchestra, which plays all-original compositions accompanying the dances.

The music so inspired him that Mrs. Najera said, “Most definitely music is good for the soul. He’ll go home and write music tonight.”

Mr. Najera felt many emotions during the performance. “There were some parts that were sad, but they had a meaning to it. And there’s always hope, like the battles, the struggles with the freedom, and the oppression from the communistic government, and at the end with the cell phones: Oh my gosh, the things that we are living through right now!”

Mrs. Najera also expressed her reactions. “The emotions range from happiness to elation. It fills my heart. It gives me almost a spiritual moment.”

Mr. Najera said it’s so sad that many Chinese are oppressed.

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 by a group of leading Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of China’s ruling communist party. Following the regime’s violent takeover of China in 1949, the country’s traditional culture underwent a period of mass destruction.

Mrs. Najera spoke of the gift of freedom and what a privilege it is to see Shen Yun. “It’s a privilege. It’s a great privilege. Actually, it’s an honor,” she said.

“People do not realize what freedom really means here in the United States,” Mrs. Najera said. “They have so much of it, and there’s so many places in the world that cannot do anything unless it’s what is expected of them. If they do something different that’s when they have trouble for themselves, so it’s great to have freedom.”

Mr. Najera spoke of the need for freedom worldwide. “We wish that for everybody so much. We have Russia, we have China, we have all the Middle East. Women don’t have any liberties, and here we have all that. Sometimes [Americans] take it for granted, but shows like this are an awakening for people.”

Mrs. Najera appreciated how Shen Yun keeps China’s traditional culture vibrant. “It’s fabulous that you are keeping the traditional culture from the past alive. That’s very important to keep what took place a long a time ago, and how things took place, and how they expressed themselves. Freedom of expression is very important.”

Mr. Najera was drawn by the beautiful landscape. “It’s just gorgeous.” Mrs. Najera noted the lovely costumes, how the women were so light on their feet, and the men so robust and strong. “That gives a good expression.”

The couple will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next year. Mr. Najera could only say of the performance, “Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!”

Artist Says Respect of Tradition Comes Through in Shen Yun Performance

Wende Obata, a teaching artist in mixed media art therapy, and artist and her friend Ginger Weichel were very impressed by Shen Yun. “The dancing is fabulous, the synchronization. The commitment to the dancing was beautiful.”

She also noted what’s happening in China today. “The honesty about the stories in the perspective of what’s happening in China—and I totally support, [I feel] sadness of not being able to do this type of dance in their own country.”

Ms. Obata noted “the relationships and the generations. You know, all the parental relationships.”

Wende Obata (L) and her friend, Ginger Weicatl, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center in Sacramento, California. (NTD) — Wende Obata (L) and her friend, Ginger Weicatl, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center in Sacramento, California. NTD

Ms. Weichel said, “It amazed me that so much culture comes out of China, but there’s such limitation to what it can be said and done.”

“Respect,” Ms. Obata said. “It’s a pretty big word that comes foremost here. Seeing the respect, how they respect life, respect death, they respect tradition, respect for elders, birth, the whole sequence.”

Ms. Obata spoke of a friend from China who gave her a massage. “Every time she comes, she talks about her life in China. Of course she came here, how she had to. They took away her daughters. How she could not become a teacher because she was too short.”

Ms. Obata was told how all spiritual belief was forbidden. “So, obviously, we feel really strong about what’s happening in the United States. We feel strongly it’s happening anywhere where freedom isn’t number one. And, actually today, we’ve got something looking over us from China, and so we’re going home and seeing that—balloon in the sky and spying on us, and then coming here and supporting this, it all seemed to kind of have a continuum of flow.”

Ms. Weichel said, “I think there is a spirituality about it. The way they brought that up at the very beginning and how it was going to be presented. And I think in a lot of cases, people need to see more of that. And I’m not talking about a specific religion.”

For Ms. Obata, Shen Yun was more than information about China. “Full disclosure: It’s not here to just educate us. It’s here to enlighten us and to share that, and then they took risks in doing that. So I feel very proud. I sense the proudness.”

Reported by NTD, Steve Ispas and Yvonne Marcotte.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006. Creative Director of Shen Yun, Mr. Li Hongzhi, has recently published “Why There is Mankind” in various independent media.