BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Walter and Julia Stafford, owners of the Pelham Prowlers hockey team, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts and felt appreciation for the traditional Chinese culture as well as newfound appreciation for their own.
“It’s definitely different than American culture for sure, right?” Mr. Stafford said. “I think it’s something I think people should go and watch and experience or definitely learn up on.”
“I think it’s always great to learn more about your culture, and we can always learn things from other people’s cultures as well,” Mrs. Stafford said.
Shen Yun is indeed an American company, formed in New York in 2006 by artists from around the world, many of whom had experienced religious persecution in China and sought freedom of expression overseas.
“I think it’s important because, again, you don’t get a whole lot of information out of the countries that are going to be behind a steel curtain or something like that,” Mr. Stafford said.
“It’s very entertaining, definitely worth seeing if you have the time, and yes, the costumes, the dance, everything is just fantastic,” he said.
Also in the audience Sunday afternoon was Antionne Winston, a retired Navy officer, who was moved and inspired by the performance, and already planned to return next year.
“You can really tell how much work the performers put into it and the amount of passion and compassion they put into it,” he said. Mr. Winston added that it was evident that these dancers were more than expertly trained in technique, but believed their talent a “gift that was given to them by higher, and they want to showcase it to the world.”
Like many Shen Yun viewers, Mr. Winston thought the colors incredible, and he felt they were used symbolically and evolved throughout the performance.
“There are so many colors that I think represent the thousands of years of Chinese culture. Each color has a different representation of something that they’re trying to bring to the audience,” he said.
“I think the colors are all inspired to tell a story, and you can kind of tell the progression of the colors throughout the performance and just seeing how they integrate that throughout their performance,” he said. “I thought was good, I thought it was amazing. I just, it’s so many emotions at the end of the performance. You just don’t know which way to go.”
Mr. Winston said the performance gave “100 percent,” and that energy was felt in the crowd in an indescribable way.
“You remember the kaleidoscope where you used to look in it, and you used to turn it and you see the different colors, right? And you’re just like, ‘Oh, wow!’ And it’s like that, except with energy and purpose and direction,” he said. “And I think you have to kind of see it to get it, right? It’s not something you can really describe, in my opinion.”
He said this energy brought up “feelings of inspiration, feelings of hope, feelings of purpose, happiness, divine.”
“It gives me hope that we can come together and understand different cultures, different thoughts, ways of thinking, and understand that we’re all humans and we’re all divinely created. And if we can understand that and lock onto whatever our purpose is in life, that there is hope for humanity, hope for the future.”
“It doesn’t feel like there’s any negativity. It’s all positive, all hope, all just hope for a better future by, again, looking at the past and just seeing this long, almost 5,000 years of Chinese history, seeing the good parts of that, and showcasing it to the world,” he said. “I think it’s a great thing.”
“I think people will get, when they see the show, they will get their interpretation from it,” he said. “And I think, I have hope, that their interpretation will be just as meaningful as mine was today.”
