Justin Zuzuro enjoyed Shen Yun at the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on the evening of March 30, 2024. (Frank Liang/The Epoch Times)
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.—Justin Zuzuro has seen many performances, but Shen Yun Performing Arts delivered a depth he said was hard to replicate.
“You know what strikes me the most? How emotional the performance is,” said Mr. Zuzuro, a labor specialist for the federal government. He saw New York-based Shen Yun at the State Theatre New Jersey on the evening of March 30.
“They express a great deal of emotion through the dancing as well as the performance. It’s moving,” he added.
“You get a lot of feeling by watching the performance. It touches your emotions. I would assume that it’s all the emotion that they put into the performance itself. It almost hits you,” he said.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Since its inception in 2006, it’s gained world renown for reviving the ancient art form, which is famously expressive.
“I wouldn’t know what to compare it to. I haven’t seen anything like it to be honest,” he said. “This has more depth.”
Mr. Zuzuro said the costumes, dancing, bel canto singers, and music came together in a beautiful experience that “just leaves you kind of breathless.”
Shen Yun was wholly unique for many others in the State Theatre audience that night as well.
Mike Kelly and Gloria Rodriguez, both attorneys, said the performance was “absolutely eye-opening” as to what China once was.
“What China was before communism, and the divine aspect ... I didn’t realize that,” said Ms. Rodriguez. “They’re phenomenal in the way that they portray what they’re sending, that message.”
“It was just so moving,” she added.
Gloria Rodriguez and Mike Kelly enjoyed Shen Yun at the State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on the evening of March 30, 2024. (Yeawen Hung/The Epoch Times)
China was once known as the “land of the divine,” and its people believed the culture was divinely inspired. That legacy was in place for thousands of years until communism seized power only in the last century, after which it sought to replace traditional culture with atheism and struggle.
Mr. Kelly said seeing Shen Yun made him want to learn more about Chinese culture. He added that he realized it had been misrepresented by the Chinese Communist Party, which was oppressing the people and culture.
“I want to understand the Chinese culture better,” he said. “
Chris and Sandy Kobe described the performance as vivid, dynamic, and positive.
Mrs. Kobe said she felt a sense of hope, even from the very beginning of the performance. The production opened with a scene from heaven, the Creator coming down to earth to establish Chinese civilization, and it made her think of divine intervention.
“Right now in this world, we need a lot of divine intervention,” she said. “So I’m sort of looking at it that way.”
