BERKELEY, Calif.—To glimpse “China before communism” is a rare and powerful thing, shared sisters Julie Wright and Joanna Rhodes after experiencing just that through Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, but it can’t be seen in China.
Instead, the New York-based company tours the world with eight equal-sized groups, visiting around 200 cities each season.
“I absolutely love it—especially since this was pre-communism, and you feel the strength of the people that long for freedom again,” said Ms. Wright, who manages a performing arts group that is currently on tour. Ms. Rhodes, now retired, was a Christian school secretary. The sisters enjoyed a Shen Yun matinee performance on Jan. 13 at the Zellerbach Hall.
The sisters said they loved the stories, which they described as ranging from humorous vignettes to a dance story that showed the persecution of people of faith in China today.
“That happened. It happens, and I’m glad that they can show that,“ said Ms. Rhodes. ”You can’t see it in China because of communism, but here we still have our freedom so we can see, and hopefully, it'll open people’s eyes to how awful communism is and that there are people in China still being persecuted.”
Many Shen Yun artists practice Falun Dafa, a spiritual meditation that also teaches the three principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance. In the 1990s, the practice gained great popularity in China with 70 million to 100 million followers, but then the Chinese Communist Party sought to eradicate its existence via violent persecution that continues today.
Ms. Wright said she appreciated the eye-opening story as well.
“People innately long for freedom, and when they give up their liberties for a government to take care of them, it ends badly,” she said.
The sister said they thought Shen Yun conveyed a good message, not just about freedom, but about being a good person.
“I’m glad to see so many people here,” Ms. Wright added.
“They'll hear it. And the Holy Spirit will work on them to understand it and act on it,” Ms. Rhodes added.
With reporting by Nan Su.
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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