ST. LOUIS, Mo.—Frank and Annette Rolfe are fans of Shen Yun Performing Arts and say the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company shares something profound that has them returning year after year.
“Sometimes in the world right now, we lose track of right and wrong, and shows like this help us understand the innate human nature of right and wrong,” said Mr. Rolfe, a real estate business owner, at the Stifel Theatre the evening of March 2.
Shen Yun is a reminder that there is a “moral compass” to life that we have to follow, Mr. Rolfe added.
New York-based Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, said to be divinely inspired. The ancient culture upheld virtues and values like benevolence, integrity, wisdom, and justice.
Mrs. Rolfe said the spirituality of traditional Chinese culture was highly relevant.
“I love it. I think it’s magnificent,“ she said. ”We come back every year. And when I leave, I always feel like a sense of profound morality has been instilled within me.”
Some of this was conveyed through story-based dances, which spanned from the legend of the Creator founding ancient Chinese civilization to stories of hope and faith in the present day. It was also conveyed through the lyrics sung in the bel canto style.
“I studied the lyrics, and I thought they had so much depth to them and so much to say, and it will stay inside of me until we come back next year,” Mrs. Rolfe said.
“They always try to stress what’s happening in the world, and kind of a good versus evil ... truth and goodness will overcome it if we strive for it,” Mrs. Rolfe shared. “And that’s what I love about it. And we come back every year.”
The spirituality of the experience is what was most rewarding, Mrs. Rolfe added, because it’s something that has become a challenge to hold onto in modern society, but Shen Yun encourages people to do so by showing them the way.
“That’s what I thought the show was about,“ Mrs. Rolfe said, ”holding on to your spirituality, holding on to the depth of the core of goodness, and moving forward in life and fighting it.”
Mr. Rolfe added, “I think the show does a great job of showing the interaction between humans and the spiritual world.”
The artists were able to depict this in an innovative visual way, he explained, such as with the costumes and stagecraft that makes use of patented backdrop technology.
“We come back every year because they do such a great job,“ he said. ”We’re so lucky we have it here in St. Louis.
With reporting by Weiyong Zhu.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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