SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Seattle Audience Sees Significance in Shen Yun’s Revival of Chinese Culture

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Seattle Audience Sees Significance in Shen Yun’s Revival of Chinese Culture
Anna Soper (R) and her mother at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall on April 4, 2024. Sunny Chen/The Epoch Times

SEATTLE—Culture is something that we live with, and sometimes we aren’t aware of the impact it has in our lives until it’s gone. Shen Yun Performing Arts is striving to bring back Chinese culture from the destruction it faced from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Anna Soper, the vice president of a bank, shared that culture is very important after seeing Shen Yun on the afternoon of April 4.

“I think it’s very important ... our roots, our history, where we come from ... I think this was a gorgeous example from the Chinese culture to show the beauty of ... all cultures,” said Ms. Soper.

Shen Yun is based in New York, and it is dedicated to reviving 5,000 years of traditional Chinese civilization. Since the CCP took over in 1949, it systematically distorted and destroyed China’s culture and history.

Ms. Soper said that she saw similarities between what happened in China and what is currently happening in the United States.

“I feel the same way about living in the U.S. A lot of our culture is being perverted and erased. And I definitely felt the message of getting back to the roots of where we come from and being all connected,” she said.

Although Shen Yun presents true Chinese culture, many audience members share that they feel a connection with the performance.

“I just feel connected to it and it reminds me that we all are—no matter what culture we come from—we’re all human beings,” said Mr. Soper.

Shen Yun uses dance and music to convey beautiful stories that come from China’s 5,000 years of history. Each detail of every dance is rehearsed to give the best experience to the audience.

“It was wonderful. I was very impressed by the dedication that the dancers clearly have to—making it wonderful,” praised Ms. Soper.

Shen Yun puts on an all-new production every year. The music, the costumes, and the backdrops are tailored to each new dance.

“The colors, just the preciseness of the synchronization of the dancing, it just was beautiful,” said Ms. Soper.

The dancers are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most athletic and expressive dance systems in the world.

“The passion that the performers put into it, you can tell that they really believe in what they are doing,” observed Ms. Soper.

After experiencing the performance this season, Ms. Soper expressed her wish to return again next year.

“This is the first time I’ve seen it, and I hope to come back next year ... [It’s] just worth seeing; worth the money to come and see. It was something that I’ve really never seen before. How it was presented was really wonderful,” she said.

Reporting by Sunny Chen and Maria Han.
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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