ESCONDIDO, Calif.—Deanna Smith, madam chair of the Escondido Chamber of Commerce, was absolutely stunned by the beauty of Shen Yun Performing Arts when she attended the company’s evening show at the California Center for the Arts on March 18.
Ms. Smith was especially impressed by the artists’ story-based dances. She loved how “the different stories came together to show the true history” of China and how, though times have changed, people’s values stayed the same.
“That was very surprising. I didn’t expect it. It was very entertaining and it added such a great dimension to the whole performance,” she shared.
The New York-based Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by elite Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.
For millennia, China’s civilization flourished under the shared belief that the divine will bless those who uphold traditional moral values. Tragically, within just a few decades of the communist party’s violent takeover, these beliefs were erased and replaced with atheism.
If given the chance, she would like to tell the artists that they’re “very brave, incredibly talented, and I know that they’re just being carried with divine energy and grace and protection.”
Reflecting on Shen Yun’s present-day dance raising awareness about Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing persecution of the people of faith, Ms. Smith said that’s an important message because “sometimes [faith] is all you have.”
“As long as you can hold onto your faith, you can get through everything,” she said. “My heritage—we have Chinese in our background and although I’m American and I don’t speak Chinese, it was wonderful to see a part of my history.”
Summarizing the evening, Ms. Smith shared that the experience was “powerful, enlightening, and just divine.” She would like to urge everyone to see Shen Yun for themselves.
“Please come. If you don’t come, you’ll be missing out. Bring everybody.”
