SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Paints a Picture of the Divine: Financial Adviser

Mar 13, 2023

VENICE, Fla.—Kathryn Dennen and her daughter attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Venice Performing Arts Center on March 12. Mrs. Dennen is a financial adviser and her daughter teaches at an elementary school.

I loved the show. I thought it was an incredible use of an artistic way to tell a story, to incorporate history, tradition, education, beauty, grace, and truth.

— Kathryn Dennen

Her daughter said: “I loved it. It was the most wonderful thing that I’ve seen,” and Mrs. Dennen agreed. “I loved the show. I thought it was an incredible use of an artistic way to tell a story, to incorporate history, tradition, education, beauty, grace, and truth.”

They attended Shen Yun with friends, Stewart Williamson, a chiropractor, and his father, Dr. Malcolm Williamson, an osteopath.

“The performance was exquisite, exquisite,” Stewart Williamson said.

Dr. Williamson has seen Shen Yun many times. “This show is stunning. It’s only the fifth year in a row that I’ve seen it. I didn’t find out about it until 2018, and it is absolutely spectacular, heartwarming, and [gives] hope for the future. It gives you hope, and that’s what we need in America today: hope for the future.

Stewart Williamson said he was impressed with Chinese culture: “The culture, and the preservation of the culture. Without a show like this, it would disappear, and that would be a shame, to lose such history—5,000 years of history that we just witnessed. To me, that’s an amazing preservation of culture, customs, and faith. That was about a higher power, not just about us. It was faith in a higher power.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists and quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture.

Mrs. Dennen said: “I think it’s important to the world to understand that there is something greater than us, there is a divine being, to have that faith. When you lose that, it becomes a self-centered world where there is no answer to ‘what’s the point?’ and to understand that we have a bit of divinity in all of us. We can achieve a higher being than just this is really what drives truth and will lead us on to being better than we are as just people.”

Shen Yun meant something special to Ms. Dennen: “It was a display of love and light in all of the dancers’ movements. You could just see their love for not only Chinese tradition through dance but also their love for truth. And that came through in each step, each smile. [We could] just see that they are eager to continue that in our world and help others to come to a greater understanding.”

Stewart Williamson concurred: “Beauty is a reflection of God,” he said. “Anything that’s beautiful is a reflection. When you look at art, or buildings and architecture, culture, and dance, when it’s beautiful—that’s a true reflection. There’s so many things now that are ugly. We have ugly buildings, ugly art: It’s not a reflection of our hearts in any way, shape, or form.”

Mrs. Dennen recalled a banner showing truth, compassion, and forbearance and said: “What’s beautiful about it is you can use beauty and dance to say what cannot be said and to paint that picture of the divine that we cannot grasp with our small minds. That’s what they did today.”

Ms. Dennen also wanted to express gratitude to Shen Yun’s artistic director. “I would like to say a huge ’thanks’ to him for being so brave and courageous—he stepped out in a world that might condemn him and might push him out of his homeland, but he still did it, and he stands firmly on truth. It’s important to spread that light throughout the world.”

Stewart Williamson said: “It was amazing. Freedom is the key. This was a freedom of expression, and that’s what’s missing in today’s society: free speech. This was an example of free speech coming from the heart and the soul.”

Dr. Williamson said: “They strive for excellence, and they attained it, and I appreciate that. That’s the goal of every doctor, to strive for excellence. That’s a lot of what is missing today in America, the striving for excellence, and we can do it with God’s help.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma and Epoch Times.

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