SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun: ‘I Absolutely See Why the CCP Sees It as a Threat,’ Says Financial Investor

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Shen Yun: ‘I Absolutely See Why the CCP Sees It as a Threat,’ Says Financial Investor
Dennis and Megan Murphy enjoyed Shen Yun at the Detroit Opera House on May 6, 2023. Charlie Lu/The Epoch Times

DETROIT—Dennis Murphy had long wanted to see Shen Yun Performing Arts, and learning that the New York-based company presented a China “before communism” made him all the more interested.

“I learned that this is one of the things that the Chinese, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), considers its biggest threat. So that kind of put me over the top to go and buy the tickets. I love the tradition. I love all of the depictions of all the history of China. I absolutely see why the CCP sees it as a threat because it’s beautiful,” said Mr. Murphy, who attended the performance with his wife, Megan, at the Detroit Opera House on May 6.

“They [the CCP] don’t want people remembering all of that about China and its traditions and its history and all the pageantry—it was just beautiful. It was really fascinating,” said Mr. Murphy, a financial investor.

Shen Yun, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, has a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. The Chinese once believed their culture was divinely inspired, and reverence for the heavens and the Creator was a core part of this traditional culture.
Thus, Shen Yun cannot perform in China, which is still under communist rule. The communist regime, which is atheist, has worked for 70 years to try to uproot traditional culture in China.
Mr. Murphy described a breadth of stories in the performance—there were comedies and tragedies, folk dances from Tibet to Mongolia, and even two stories set in the modern day. The contemporary tales touched on the CCP’s persecution of people of faith, namely Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that teaches truth, compassion, and tolerance.
“I thought it was great. I think it probably surprised quite a few people in the audience, both that [the modern-day story] and the spiritual aspect of it,” Mr. Murphy said. “The persecuted part, I don’t think people even realize that. I don’t think a lot of people realize that. So hopefully they learn that; today they’re more aware of it.”
“It was just fascinating. It really was,” he said.
Mrs. Murphy agreed, adding that she, too, enjoyed the variety of stories and how they were communicated without words.

“It just showed the universal storytelling aspect of dance and music,” she said. “And I just think they’re all very brave.”

Reporting by Charlie Lu.
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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