EL PASO, Texas—Esmerelda Frias, a school principal, and Erika Rivera, an assistant school principal, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Plaza Theatre on Feb. 16. It was their first time seeing the performance, and they brought with them approximately 200 students. It was Ms. Frias who made the decision to bring the students, as she “wanted them to come and [to] expose them to something beautiful and different.”
“It was amazing,” Ms. Frias said. “It was spectacular. The costumes, the music, everything was just phenomenal. It’s beautiful.”
“I was amazed by how wonderful they were,” Ms. Rivera said. “They were in sync. ... This is one of my favorite shows that I’ve seen. It was amazing, and learning about the culture was great for our students.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its inception, Shen Yun has expanded from one to eight equally sized companies that tour around the world simultaneously, reviving traditional Chinese culture and showcasing the beauty of “China before communism.”
Traditional Chinese culture is rooted in the teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and Shen Yun’s performance portrays these spiritual elements, something Ms. Rivera appreciated.
“I think it’s beautiful,” she said. “The religious aspect, in my opinion, is what I got out of it and it was amazing. ... I think that it was great for our students to see that our cultures are very similar to one another as far as religion comes. It was great for them to see that.”
Both Ms. Rivera and Ms. Frias encouraged more people to bring their families to see Shen Yun.
“Definitely come and enjoy [it], bring your family, bring your children,” Ms. Frias said. “It’s a performance that the family can enjoy.”
Reporting by NTD 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.
