PHOENIX—Rick Lottman is a milkman who uses the words “humdrum life” and “so boring and monotonous” to describe his average days. But, after he turned 59 yesterday, it was hard to miss the jolt and zip in his voice today, as he left Symphony Hall in Phoenix, having just seen the vigorous and uplifting dancers of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“It just gives you such an uplifting experience, emotionally, to where you want to take on the world again!” he told The Epoch Times during the show’s intermission. His voice displayed vigor. It invigorates? “That’s a good synonym for it,” he added. “And to see something like this, it’s wow, it just makes you want to pursue the world!”
Mr. Lottman, an independent distributor of milk for Shamrock who delivers to the ASU campus, hospitals, and convenience stores throughout the valley east of the airport, had more synonyms in store when asked to describe his experience of
Shen Yun dancers onstage. He likened seeing their physical and emotional presence in person to “having a renaissance of your soul.”
He added, “It just makes you rebirth and renew.”
“Rebirth of just your spirit,” he said, his voice still shaking.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s leading classical Chinese dance company, with artists who painstakingly research ancient motifs from the Middle Kingdom and explore its
ethnic cultures in order to initiate a renaissance of their own. They then take their expression and share it with the world.
The performers, in fact,
state what their mission is: “to revive a culture that was once almost lost;” this revival, they add, was necessary because of campaigns like the Cultural Revolution in modern China, which “has systematically uprooted traditional beliefs and destroyed ancient treasures, bringing 5,000 years of civilization to the brink of extinction.”
Mr. Lottman says he rarely gets dressed up. Today was different. Just turning 59, he escorted his wife to something totally off his radar.
“It’s so extraordinary. It’s just, I’ve never been to anything like this. My wife said, ‘You better get dressed up, because this is something that you don’t do every day.’”
Sure, you could always just go to the movies, right? Mr. Lottman said. “But at the same time, to be this close, to see [
Shen Yun] in person, live, and just to see exactly what they’re doing—you’re only about 100 feet away from them.” He caught his breath and apologized for having no more words.
“I just turned 59 yesterday,” he added after regaining his words. “It’s just, getting a little older, maybe I can appreciate just the time and effort that it takes to do something like this.”
Reporting by Sherry Dong and Michael Wing.
