LAS VEGAS—Lynn Kvame, a director at Southern Utah University, and her sister drove all the way from Utah just to see
Shen Yun’s evening performance at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 25.
“My sister knew that I’d been wanting to see this show for many years. So, she gave it to me as a gift, and we came together,” Ms. Kvame said.
“[Shen Yun] was wonderful and very entertaining. It makes you want to dance. There was never a dull moment. It’s very refreshing!”
She thought the artists were very talented, and the whole performance was very graceful and peaceful. It presented a “great combination of traditional dance, storytelling, and
music.”
In addition to classical Chinese, folk, and ethnic dances, Shen Yun Performing Arts presents solo musical performances as well as short
story-based dances that tell legends from ancient times to the modern day.
These are the values that will give us peace and happiness.
— Lynn Kvame
Ms. Kvame was touched by Shen Yun’s portrayal of traditional values. “Those values are so important, especially today, because the world is in a lot of chaos. These are the values that will give us peace and happiness,” she said.
Prior to the communist takeover and its spread of atheism in 1947, spirituality and the belief in the divine played an important role in traditional Chinese culture.
Since Shen Yun’s advent in 2006, the New York-based company has made it
its mission to bring back China’s 5,000 years of divine-inspired history and share with the world beauty before communism.
A spiritual person herself, Ms. Kvame enjoyed learning more about
Chinese spirituality and agreed with the ancient belief that our culture is a gift from the heavens.
“I think it’s true! I believe there is a saying, ‘we are not human beings on a divine journey. We are divine beings on a human journey,’” she said. “Spirituality crosses all borders and all boundaries. It is the thing that can keep us together as humans.”
As an educator, Ms. Kvame thought
Shen Yun’s mission to revive traditional culture is very valuable to our society and to the next generation.
“Sometimes in education, we go so far with the things that are trendy and, supposedly, new ideas, but we forget about the old ideas and the old traditions. It is absolutely beneficial for us to learn these things.”
Reporting by Linda Jiang and Jennifer Tseng.