BATON ROUGE, La.—Macy’s Vice President and Store Manager Christian Rogers was among the many captivated audience members who attended Shen Yun’s second of three consecutive performances at the Baton Rouge River Center Theatre on Jan. 11.
Sharing his feelings after the show, Mr. Rogers said it was awesome.
“I feel amazing, I feel great. The experience was amazing. The colors, the story, the dancing—it was all beautiful. Over the top exquisite,” he said.
Shen Yun “definitely speaks to your soul. It kind of embraces you and make you want to believe more and have faith, and lift up to a higher power.”
For millennia, the Chinese people led a deeply spiritual life, viewing their culture as a sacred gift from the heavens. However, under the violent rule of the communist regime and its systematic spread of atheism, China’s rich 5,000-year-old heritage has been almost destroyed.
Based in New York, Shen Yun Performing Arts has a mission to restore traditional Chinese culture and raise awareness of an ongoing human rights issue still prevalent in China today.
Through classical Chinese dance and music, the artists are bringing to life the beauty of pre-communist China and sharing its rich history with audiences worldwide.
Mr. Rogers was mesmerized by the beauty of the dances and loved that the dancers’ steps were so light they seemingly floated across the stage. He said the whole performance made him very happy.
“It was an immersive world. It made you feel the music and made you want to actually dance a little bit. It also made you want to have a greater feeling of goodness in the world,” he said.
“The colors, the vision, the view—It’s all really just spectacular for the ears and the eyes.”
Today, Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance and music company. To satisfy popular demand, it grew from one to eight equally sized companies that perform simultaneously in packed venues around the world.
Reflecting on the artists’ portrayal of traditional values and the importance of standing up for what you believe—even in the face of opposition and danger—Mr. Rogers said the message he would take home from the evening is that “true beauty is in the faith and the goodness of the people.”
“We are all in this together—the harmony that we all bring to each other,” he elaborated. “We need to help each other out and find the good and push back the bad and make sure, that we’re embodying the good and helping each other out. We’re all going to get through it together.”
