DETROIT—After wanting to see Shen Yun Performing Arts for years, Tammy Simrak, a general manager, and Bryan Simrak, a truck driver, finally fulfilled their wish at the Detroit Opera House on Feb. 8.
“It was beautiful, it was gorgeous,” Mrs. Simrak said. “It was very emotional at some points in it for me ... It was just an amazing performance. The colors—amazing. The technique behind these dancers is amazing. It’s very encouraging.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its inception, Shen Yun has expanded from one to eight equally sized companies that tour around the world simultaneously, reviving traditional Chinese culture and showcasing the beauty of “China before communism.”
Mrs. Simrak said that she “follow[s] the story of this (Shen Yun) on the news all the time through reading about it,” and was thus familiar with the events depicted in the story-dances, like the story drawing attention to the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of followers of faith. Mrs. Simrak shared that because she is aware of the human rights abuses happening in China, it was emotional “seeing how [Shen Yun is] trying to spread the word of what is going on.”“[It’s] very inspirational because they’re just wanting to deliver that positive message that there is this culture that still exists and it’s not gonna be crushed because of it [persecution],” Mrs. Simrak said. “It’s very motivating to know that [you] keep persevering through it and you keep living life to deliver a message.”
