SALT LAKE CITY—One of the longest-running histories in the world has a lot to offer. And Shen Yun Performing Arts is giving audiences around the world the opportunity to learn and explore.
“I really enjoyed this. I knew it was gonna be beautiful [and it] exceeded my expectations. I think I was most intrigued to learn about Chinese history and culture,” said Randy Guynn, a lawyer focused on banking law.
“I’m a curious person and I learned things tonight that I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything about the Chinese religion other than Buddhism and it actually seems to go back a lot further in Chinese tradition,” Mr. Guynn said.
“The Tibetan men’s dance—how skilled every movement and precision—made me think of how many hours they practiced. That was very impressive,” said Sabrina Elggren, an executive assistant.
“I’m grateful that people with this talent share it with the world and that they dedicate their lives to this practice. And it takes so much discipline and sacrifice. So I’m grateful,” Mrs. Elggren said.
“The visuals were stunning, but the standout performance for me was the instrument, the erhu, more elegant, more beautiful than I could have imagined. It was remarkable and I'll remember that,” said Mr. Elggren, a contractor and builder.
Although the Chinese Communist Party has only been in power since 1949, it has managed to almost completely distort and destroy 5,000 years of Chinese history in that time.
“The religious culture and traditions of China still exist as hard as they’ve been suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party. It’s nice to see that in the hearts of the people that it’s still there, that faith is still there,” Mr. Elggren said.
“I also got a theme of tradition and kindness as something that really will raise the human being, raise the human spirit. Thinking about how tradition applies in our lives and then being kind to people as opposed to being harsh. You saw a lot of contrasting kindness and harshness,” Mr. Guynn said.
The costumes in Shen Yun were designed by Shen Yun’s artistic director D.F. The attire is historically appropriate to each dynasty being depicted and has often been described as the attire worn in the heavens.
“I was just enamored by the beautiful fabrics, the way that they flowed, the costumes, and the way that the dancers were able to do all that they did with so much fabric and then the skills that they had in dancing and the messages and they all smiled and seemed to really be enjoying themselves. It was beautiful,” said Robin Guynn, who works with fabrics.
