MESA, Ariz.—Stock trader Adela Cordova wasn’t quite sure what to expect when she first entered the Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center for her first experience of Shen Yun Performing Arts on Feb. 12. Exiting the theater at the end of the evening she was thoroughly impressed.
“It was beautiful. It was just colorfully brilliant. It was so beautiful. It just made me happy to see the beautiful dancers and the flexibility of the men and the women. … It was just really beautiful,” she said.
“They just had a real sense of joy when I saw them on the stage. I was in the first row because I’ve been wanting to see it for about five years, and I just finally made it today. They just look happy, and the happiness resonates to the audience.”
“They had real shimmery [fabric.] When the arms went up—it was almost like a wedding veil that was on the arms. You could see through the fabric and I just thought that was really beautiful. It was just very angelic,” she said.
As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, China’s 5,000 years of history is filled with breathtaking legends and rich traditions. Yet, within just a few decades of the Chinese communists’ rise to power, this magnificent culture was almost destroyed.
The spread of atheism quickly replaced Chinese people’s belief in the divine. The cherished virtues and values learned from the teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism almost disappeared overnight.
“The message of the Creator is just a touching one. It’s just beautiful, and it just makes me happy,” she said. “The message [from the performance] was kindness. For me, the message was tolerance and you can find beauty in everybody. You just got to be quiet long enough to recognize it and notice it.”
“I think it’s just a very unique and wonderful experience of growth— even in such a small amount of time. It just reminds you to be kinder to one another. We’re all going through things, and if you could just be a little bit more tolerant, then I think that the rest of your days will be full of joy and happiness and smiles. I think what I took from it is [that in] the dark days, just remember that it'll pass and we’re all going to be okay.”
“I texted my daughter already during intermission. I’m sure she’s going to want to come as well. … It was just joy,” she said.
“It was almost like a feeling of everybody being [as] one together. It doesn’t matter what color you are—it just matters your kinship and your friendship and your companionship—even if it’s just a smile.”
