SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Detroit Patron Says Shen Yun Projected Pure Energy to the Audience

Feb 24, 2024

DETROIT—Debbie Stefaniak, accountant and medium, was astounded by the beauty and purity of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Detroit Opera House on Feb. 24.

“Best show I’ve seen, I wish there were more like it,” she said, “It was beautiful, absolutely breathtaking.”

“I was impressed that people would go and develop such an artistic piece of entertainment for people to make the public aware about the spiritual deficit in the world and how important it is to keep art, culture, and spirituality alive in the world today,” she said.

“I'd like to see more about divinity and goodness, morals … all that kind of stuff in our [modern] entertainment.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun presents story-based dances depicting heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales spanning 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.

Since the company’s inception in 2006, its mission has been to revive the traditional and spiritual culture of ancient China, and to share it with the world. The age-old culture has been on the brink of extinction since the Chinese communist regime seized power in 1949. Shen Yun says its performances demonstrate “China before communism.”

“Shen Yun is an educational tool for people to know what our history was and that there is more to life than cell phones and text messages,” Mrs. Stefaniak said. “If we stay on that path, we’re not going to be truly happy with ourselves or anybody else.

An accountant by trade, Mrs. Stefaniak is also a psychic medium who has spent two decades studying the field of consciousness and synchronicity. Not only could she feel the energy of the Shen Yun performers, but she said she could see them project a beautiful energy to the audience—including the emcees.

The female emcee who helps to announce the vignettes, she said “emitted a … very pure … glow around her of light.”

“They’re giving out that energy to the audience, and the audience is accepting it,” she added. “That energy, that presence, can calm an audience down, make them more serene [and] stabilizes anybody that might be irritated—it brings peace to people when they see that or experience that energy for sure.”

China was once known as “The Land of the Divine” and Shen Yun presents this culture by drawing upon the Middle Kingdom’s Buddhist and Daoist philosophies. In the past, artists looked to the divine for inspiration and cultivated virtue in order to create uplifting art. Today, Shen Yun’s artists follow in this noble tradition, which is why audiences feel there is something different about Shen Yun, says the company’s website.

“[Shen Yun] speaks about unity and connection—having kindness towards one another—and I think we need more of that,” Mrs. Stefaniak said.

“People should see Shen Yun to be reminded of that … for their own benefit.”

‘From the Heart’

Alexis Mazurek, who works in the insurance industry, and her husband, Darren Mazurek, an architect, felt enlightened by the Shen Yun Performing Arts concert at the Detroit Opera House on Feb. 24.

“Beautiful, absolutely beautiful … I think they did magnificently,” Mrs. Mazurek said. “The singers and the lyrics and the words really embody the dancing and … the feeling and the culture that they were trying to give to us today.”

One of Shen Yun’s unique features is its live orchestra. It’s the first in the world to permanently combine classical Western and Chinese instruments within a Western symphony orchestra. Shen Yun also boasts classical vocalists who are trained in the Italian bel canto style.

Alexis Darren Mazurek at the Detroit Opera House, in Mich., on Feb. 24. (Teng Dongyu The Epoch Times) — Alexis Darren Mazurek at the Detroit Opera House, in Mich., on Feb. 24. Teng Dongyu The Epoch Times

The Mazurek’s also said they could feel the energy of Shen Yun throughout the performance.

“It’s from the heart,” Mr. Mazurek said. “It was very emotional, I had a little tear … it was amazing.”

“It’s got to be so difficult with not being able to express oneself, one’s beliefs, as we are able to here,” Mrs. Mazurek said.

Along with myths and legends from ancient times, Shen Yun presents story-based dances depicting the persecution of Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, a meditation and spiritual discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. This faith group has been persecuted by the Chinese communist party since 1999.

Over the years, Shen Yun has grown from one to nine equally large companies that tour the world simultaneously. Despite all of the countries and cities visited, Shen Yun is banned from performing in China. It is only outside of China that Shen Yun has sparked a cultural renaissance.

Mrs. Mazurek said the energy of the performance made her feel “hopeful, joyful, warm.”

“It fills me with hope and joy for our future,” she said. “It sort of brings you in that energy, and you are one with the peace and the message and the hope.”

“And with this type of message being told in a place where we have so much more [freedom], there’s that hope that … people take away that message and try to make a change,” she added. “You may be one small person; however, one small person can make a difference. And for me, that was the biggest message—how fortunate we are to have a voice.

“And we saw the voice of the Creator, and that voice should be able to be heard worldwide.”

Reporting by Teng Dongyu and Jennifer Schneider.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.