Ivory Lee, an event operations manager, said: “I was laughing. I was a little bit teary. I was in awe with the beautiful choreography and dancing, and all the technology incorporated into it.”
Frank Licsko, an artist, said: “It’s a nice mixture of the movie industry and the physical. The gestures and the movements actually created this storyline. That was very well done, excellent, very very inspirational.”
Mishell Raedeke, a creative designer, said: “The music was amazing. The colors, because I’m a designer, I can appreciate all the effort that was done in the creation of all the costumes. The color palettes were very different. From the Western perspective, we are designing a different type. The matching of the colors was impressive. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was beautiful.”
Mr. Licsko added: “The experience of the 5000 year history of China, I think, comes through like gold and drops in the atmosphere. It’s really quite beautiful.”
Ms. Raedeke added: “My grandfather was Chinese. I never met him, unfortunately. So I always wanted to be more acquainted with Chinese culture. Because this is my roots. So it was beautiful. Very beautiful.”
Mr. Licsko added: “It allows you to feel the consciousness of the universe. And I was very impressed with that. It was inspirational from the point of view of being reminded that there is, in fact, a god. And it’s such a fantastic opportunity to be able to think like that. Because in our modern world we don’t think like that anymore. Everything is crowded. So, it gave me a really beautiful, artistic, inspirational purity—which is almost like drinking some kind of medicine—is really quite beautiful.”
Ms. Raedeke added: “You see all these kind movements going back and forth that’s [how] the world should be not violent. So, it shows the image of the Creator in these movements that are soft and kind and beautiful. Yes. That’s how I felt about it. There’s the part that I really liked. It says that atheism destroys hope. That part stood to me, and that’s what communism does, right? They are atheists, and they have destroyed the hope of the people and all this culture.”
In addition to ancient culture and divinity, Shen Yun also presents stories of modern-day courage by people of faith. Specifically, practitioners of a traditional Chinese meditation system for the mind and body, Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. The Chinese Communist Party has persecuted the practice for over two decades. Because of its efforts to expose those abuses, Shen Yun is prohibited from performing inside China.
Mr. Licsko added: “It gave me a much more understanding of what Falun Gong is. As to why they’re upset over it in China? I have no idea. But all I know is that it should be something that should be embraced, because I think it really brings a kind of an enlightenment into our lives and in a beautiful way—very artistic, to be honest with you. There’s beauty, there’s truth, and there’s the spirit of goodness. And all of those things come out in that performance.”
