PETERSBURG, Fla.—Company owner Manuel Cabrera and Kevin Monaghan, an internal auditor, enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts’ fourth show at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts on Jan. 18.
At the conclusion of the evening, Mr. Cabrera said his biggest takeaway from the whole performance is that “there’s hope for China.”
“There’s hope for China. I believe that the spirit of the show is really the spirit of the Chinese people. They just need help being able to be set free, to return to the old ways.”
The New York-based Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by elite Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.
The aim of Shen Yun artists is to return to the world’s stage—the glory and beauty of China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture.
Mr. Monaghan, too, said it was great “to learn more about [traditional Chinese] culture and dance.”
“I definitely enjoyed seeing the more peaceful nature of everything and being able to share that with everybody; it was fantastic. It really was good.”
Mr. Monaghan was deeply impressed by Shen Yun’s commitment to bringing back traditional culture and raising awareness for ongoing human rights issues in China.
“Being able to see some of what China used to be like and how they taught that harmony with everyone working together and kindness and love, and then seeing what communism has done to the people and to that desire to really do good—it’s sad,” he said.
“So, I’m glad to see that there is a group that is holding on to what is good.”
Mr. Cabrera was pleasantly surprised by how similar traditional Chinese spirituality is to Christianity.
“They were talking about the return of the Creator. Well, we’re also expecting the return of the Creator. I noticed there was a lot of love and harmony. Everything was about being together and it’s always good versus evil. Through love, good always wins.”
Last but not least, Mr. Cabrera would like to commend the artists for their dedication and tell them to “keep up the good work.”
“They really believe in what they’re doing and they kind of transmit that to the audience. So. keep up the good work.”
