SEATTLE—For Drey and Meghan Pavlov, Shen Yun Performing Arts was more than 5,000 years of history, it touched on something present and universal.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Mr. Pavlov, a physician.
“It really brought an amazing dimension to the human condition with the way the pageantry and the costumes just pulled you into it. The story with the human spirit triumphing over the misuse of knowledge like medicine and the healing arts. For me, that was big.”New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and its programs include story-based dances set from ancient history to the present day. The Pavlovs saw the performance at Seattle’s McCaw Hall on the evening of April 8.
“It gave me hope,” Mr. Pavlov said, commenting on the stories set in contemporary China, touching on COVID and recent events. “Because even though there were the doctors, for me, because it resonated with me, misusing our powers, our knowledge, and our ability. There were those pushing back against it and bringing beauty to the world, and that seems to show that if we try and we believe, and we love, humanity will prevail.”
“We very much love other cultures and learning from the experience and knowledge of other cultures. So for us, I think it was wonderful to see the callback to our earliest roots as humans, and what makes us people, and how that can transcend culture and even though every culture is different, there is the same humanity to us all,” Mr. Pavlov said.
“It was beautiful,” said Mrs. Pavlov, a senior engineer in aerospace. “I loved the interactive backdrop. I love the fact that the dancers are able to drop behind the third floor, and it was interactive with the back screen. It was beautiful—it was super fun.”
“Just to appreciate the beauty that they were able to bring, it was great,” she said.
Mr. Pavlov said every part of the production “just blew me away.”
“The visuals, the way the dancers move, the lighting, the story ... we loved it.”
Reporting by Henry Wang.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.