SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Political Analyst Describes Shen Yun as a Spiritual Experience

Apr 09, 2023

TORONTO, Canada—Sometimes, one has to take a leap of faith before a miracle can occur. For political analyst Maria Marchyshyn, getting to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on Apr. 9 was nothing short of a miracle because by the time she decided she wanted to see the performance, all the tickets had been sold out.

Ms. Marchyshyn, who was eventually given a seat, said that being able to see Shen Yun was “truly a miracle because I was coming here without a ticket … I just took a leap of faith.“

“I am so blessed today and I think it’s truly a spiritual experience for me in that sense too that the Divine, God—my God [and] your God—actually wanted me to see this and experience this for a number of reasons. So [I’m] very grateful for this.”

Ms. Marchyshyn described Shen Yun as an aesthetic, cultural, and educational experience.

“On the aesthetic level, it was such a feast for the eyes how you had not only the dance, but you also had the music. You had the singing, and I have to say, as a part-time dancer, the movements were so fluid.”

“It was just done so, so professionally that I was simply immersed,” she added. “I was completely immersed in this wonderful experience. It was a very educational experience. It was a very cultural experience, but it [also] really touched me on different levels mind, body and soul.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Now with eight equally sized companies touring the world simultaneously, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and to give its audiences a glimpse of pre-communist China.

As a political analyst and a Ukrainian, Ms. Marchyshyn appreciated Shen Yun’s presentation of China before communism.

“I’m glad that [Shen Yun is] actually showing Chinese culture as it was before communism,” she said.

“I think that is very important because a lot of people are not familiar with that; they only see on media the political tensions that are arising… It was very interesting for me to see because I didn’t know how China was before communism.”

According to Shen Yun’s website, traditional Chinese culture was deeply rooted in the spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and the ancient Chinese people believed that their culture was a gift from the Divine. Getting to see Shen Yun against all odds, and on Easter no less, made Ms. Marchyshyn extra appreciative of the spiritual elements of Shen Yun’s performance.

“It was such a spiritual experience just to see how it was all incorporated and how it was shown because we live in such a secular world,” said Ms. Marchyshyn. “Just to see … the Divine being incorporated in the show, I think it’s so important.”

Ms. Marchyshyn also said that the performance rid her of her anxiety, and that the energy from the stage calmed her, especially during the erhu solo. The erhu is a traditional Chinese two-stringed instrument. Ms. Marchyshyn described the energy as being yellow and pink in color, and said that it felt uplifting and hopeful.

“Especially when the woman was playing the erhu, I felt so at peace,” said Ms. Marchyshyn.

“I felt that as the show went on, I felt the anxiety go down, and I just felt like I forgot about my body.”

“The energy from the stage was very obvious. I’m a very energetic person—I’m very, very at tune to the energy—so I found the whole show to be very calming. The energy was very positive.“

Reporting by Dongyu Teng and Wandi 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.