ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Richard Fiola and Jennifer Schmidt, both engineers, felt Shen Yun Performing Arts was a beautiful experience that treated them to much more than dance.
“Oh, it’s wonderful. One of the most beautiful things I’ve seen,” said Mr. Fiola at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts on Jan. 19.
“The colors are just magnetic,” she said.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, known for revitalizing an ancient art form, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world. Along with mastery of the tumbling techniques, from which sports like gymnastics and acrobatics originated, classical Chinese dance also emphasizes inner bearing, making it especially expressive and well-suited to storytelling.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive China before communism, sharing with audiences the divinely inspired culture of ancient China.
Mr. Fiola enjoyed this traditional culture, which he felt the music brought out.
“I like the music more than anything else. It’s certainly a reflection on that spirituality,” he said.
“I thought it’s beautiful. I think dance is something that really allows somebody to tap into who they are,” said Mr. Fahringer.
“I really appreciate the idea of movement and paying attention to the energy that you can create on your own for goodness through movement. Especially dance,” he said. “Beautiful. Magical.”
Mr. Fahringer felt the program came full circle, with the finale showing why it is so important that humanity keep its divinely inspired traditions.
“The focus on the good parts of people and not allowing that to go away is something that we need to keep,” he said.
“Can’t wait for next year,” he said.
