ATLANTA—Paul Cornley, a retired mental health clinic director, and MaryLee Darr, a retired psychologist, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Feb. 2.
“I loved it,” Ms. Darr said. “I liked the little vignettes, the stories, and the beauty of the costumes and movements.”
“I love every part of it,” Mr. Cornley said. “The dancing was phenomenal, [as well as] the athleticism of the dancers. The
music was great.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its inception,
Shen Yun has expanded from one to eight equally sized companies that tour around the world simultaneously, reviving traditional Chinese culture and showcasing the beauty of “China before communism.”
Shen Yun’s performance depicts the spiritual elements of Chinese culture, which is deeply rooted in Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist teachings.
Previously unaware of the Chinese culture’s spiritual aspects, Ms. Darr was both surprised and glad to learn about China’s history. Mr. Cornley said it “made [him] think a lot” and that the
spirituality was something that “resonated with [him] a lot.”
“I learned a lot about Chinese culture that I didn’t know before,” he said. “I felt myself at times almost like tearing up a little bit with emotion.”
“The spirituality of some of it was really touching—how good triumphed over evil,” Mr. Cornley said. “The history of China is so full of just beautiful culture and beautiful spirituality.”
Mr. Cornley also pointed out that, unfortunately, “present day, it’s not quite like that anymore,” alluding to the fact that since the
Chinese Communist Party seized power in 1949, spirituality in Chinese culture was condemned and forcibly replaced by the CCP’s atheist ideologies.
Both Ms. Darr and Mr. Cornley said that Shen Yun was a performance they would want to share with their friends and family and that the
dancing,
costumes, and
choreography would be the main features they would highlight.
Reporting by Frank Xie and Wandi Zhu.
