SAN ANTONIO—When one thinks of China, many people think of “communism,” knowing little about the culture before communism, said Dwayne Ham, but Shen Yun Performing Arts opens up an entirely new world that many do not know about.
“This is a whole new experience for me,” said Mr. Ham, a physician, after seeing Shen Yun at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 1.
“The only thing you think of right now is communism. And it’s so much more than that prior to. Thousands of years of
history before communism that I don’t think that we get a chance to take advantage of that knowledge. And I think it’s a shame that we think of China like that. And I think that there’s so much more from the history and the people of China.”
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s leading
classical Chinese dance company and has a
mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. China before communism was one where the people believed their culture was divinely inspired, a gift from the heavens, and this was new knowledge for Mr. Ham.
“I thought it was inspired,” he said. Although the culture was new and unknown, the themes and values he saw in the
performance were universal.
“I think the basis of the divine inspiration for human beings is a wonderful thing. I’m glad to hear that we share that part, Western culture, and the Eastern as well,” he said. “It’s a wonderful understanding of what the
ancient Chinese beliefs are. And it’s just very inspiring. I thought it was wonderful.”
Mr. Ham thought the performance beautiful, and the performers talented.
“I think that they did a great job in conveying all of the thoughts and the emotions of the Chinese people to us,” he said.
“I thought that watching them on stage, they have such a passion for what they’re doing. It comes across in their dance,” he said. “And the fact that the choreography is so precise and so synchronous, it’s just amazing. Words cannot describe the feeling that you actually experience in the performance.”
Reporting by Sally Sun and Catherine Yang.
