SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is Renewing Chinese Culture at The Kennedy Center

Jan 27, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Culture is a priceless asset to a nation, once it is destroyed, it is nearly impossible to bring back. Fortunately, Shen Yun Performing Arts has found a way with China’s 5,000 years of civilization after its near-destruction at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

“Chinese culture before communism was wonderful. It’s sad that it’s gone. I’m glad through this production that they’ve resurrected it,” said Scott McLaughlin, a senior vice president in wealth management, who saw Shen Yun at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 26.

New York-based Shen Yun was founded by a team of artists from around the world who gathered with the common goal of sharing their art to spread joy, beauty, and hope and to show audiences China before communism.

“I’m enjoying it, I like the storyline. The dancing is quite artistic. The costumes are very interesting and colorful. And I like the digital screen on the back where they incorporate the interaction and it adds extra dimension to the whole production,” said Mr. McLaughlin.

Also in the audience this evening was Scott Ferrando, an airline pilot, and his daughter, Carrie, a lawyer.

Traditional Chinese culture is deeply spiritual, and Shen Yun often depicts in stories how with a belief in the divine, people are blessed.

“Obviously that’s the way things are supposed to be. The production and the performance show that. It’s the harmony that’s built between the two [man and the divine] that makes the world the way it’s supposed to be, extends the life of all of us to some degree. So it’s pretty impressive,” said Mr. Ferrando.

Shen Yun uses classical Chinese dance and music to depict the beauty and the might of the divine, and it left a deep impression on Mr. Ferrando.

I think the world and everybody needs to realize the importance of divinity and who they are and what they're all about.

— Scott Ferrando

“I think the world and everybody needs to realize the importance of divinity and who they are and what they’re all about. And if we get back to that, we’re all gonna be in a much better place,” shared Mr. Ferrando.

China’s 5,000 years of civilization were divinely inspired. Mr. Ferrando elaborated that the divine is the true guidance for how people should live and develop.

“Because only the divine helps us experience the complete capability that we have of the human body, the human essence, and where we’re going in life, because only through that do we get to where we’re going, and we can only be who we are intended to be through that.”

With modernization came a plethora of good and bad, as one of the Shen Yun pieces touched on. Mr. Ferrando felt that Shen Yun brought up how the entire world is straying further and further away from tradition.

“I think we’ve all headed in the wrong direction over time. So I think the idea behind what Shen Yun is doing is exactly what needs to happen, what we need to see. And so it brings hope, it brings inspiration. So we’re happy to see what follows. I think everybody can learn from this, and it’s very much important to enjoy the experience,” said Mr. Ferrando.

Reporting by Weiyong Zhu, Terri Wu, and Maria Han.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.