FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—After wanting to see Shen Yun Performing Arts for years, accounting director Alesia Koush was finally able to bring her friends and family to the Broward Center for the Performing Arts Au-Rene Theatre on Jan. 5. Ms. Koush thought Shen Yun’s performance had high educational value and was a great experience for her children.
“I feel that this is very informative,” Ms. Koush said of the performance. “It shows so much about Chinese culture. For kids it’s very easy to understand because it’s presented in a very visual way. ... It is something that’s definitely for any age.”
Shen Yun is based in New York, and since its inception in 2006, it has toured all over the world, fulfilling its
mission of reviving traditional Chinese culture and showing audiences the beauty of China before communism through classical Chinese dance and music.
Ms. Koush felt that each element of the production—including the
visuals,
dancing, and choreography—played a part in communicating to the audience what traditional Chinese culture and beliefs were about. She said that Shen Yun’s significance lay in its ability to tell people what China was truly like.
“Right now, people really don’t know anything about China other than modern China, other than seeing an enemy and seeing some kind of villain,” Ms. Koush said.
“When you look at [
Shen Yun], you understand that [they are] just regular people; they have their beliefs, they have their traditions. It’s beautiful that the troupe is carrying on this thing. [They] enlighten people, [and] show them that this is something absolutely different from modern times.”
Ms. Koush said she loved all the dance pieces and that it was difficult for her to choose a favorite. She added that she really enjoyed the music performed by Shen Yun’s live symphony
orchestra, which features a unique combination of traditional Chinese and Western instruments.
“I love music. I love all kinds of music, and this just really brings life to me,” Ms. Koush said.
Ms. Koush also said that Shen Yun was a performance she would absolutely recommend to the people around her.
