FOLSOM, Calif.—Jill Pusterla, a veterinarian, bought tickets to Shen Yun’s performance as a Christmas gift for her 15-year-old daughter Lia, a ballerina, who Ms. Pusterla says has wanted to see Shen Yun since she was a little girl.
“I love it so much. It’s beautiful,” said Lia, who found the movements and facial expressions of Shen Yun’s dancers to be very inspirational.
“The stories are amazing and they’re very well portrayed in the dancing,” she added.
An orchestra plays original music to accompany each of the dance pieces, blending Eastern and Western instruments.
Privileged to See True Chinese Culture
First timers to see Shen Yun, Karen Heintschel, retired law enforcement and adjunct professor at the Jessup University in Rockland, California, and her husband, Charles, also retired law enforcement, came across advertisements for Shen Yun’s performance on social media along with seeing billboard signs for it.Mr. Heintschel said he also enjoyed the historical aspect of Shen Yun too.
Shen Yun’s dance pieces feature stories from ancient Chinese history or mythology, others from contemporary China, while still others feature dance styles and costumes from different dynasties, regions, and ethnic groups, giving theatergoers a taste of traditional Chinese culture before communism. Bilingual emcees briefly introduce each piece to provide helpful background to appreciate the experience.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen dancers that are so in sync with each other,” Mrs. Heintschel said. “You could tell they’re very disciplined.”
Shen Yun is based in New York and performs around the world, but it cannot perform in China. The Chinese Communist Party seeks to destroy Chinese culture in order to make room for its own ideology, leading Shen Yun to spearhead a renaissance of 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.
Mrs. Heintschel said the cultural revival is important and that Shen Yun is doing a great job at it.
Mr. Heintschel said he thinks it’s sad the communist regime took the route of trying to erase traditional Chinese culture, because it’s important for people to know their history and their background.
Mr. Heintschel said that religious freedom is a right that’s above the government.
“It’s a right given to you. You’re born with that right ... I respect their efforts to fight for what’s rightfully theirs,” he said.
“I think that we’re very privileged to get to see a rendition of their history and their culture, even if it’s just a small glimpse,” she said.
