NEW YORK CITY—Dylan Angulas and Amanda Childs were glad to have finally attended Shen Yun Performing Arts in New York after years of seeing the performing arts group tour at Lincoln Center.
“I’ve always been interested, and I finally came and I’m very happy I did,” said Mr. Angulas, a financial advisor. He and Ms. Childs, a musical theater singer and dancer, saw Shen Yun on April 3.
“It was amazing,” Ms. Childs said. “It was all perfect. 10 out of 10. Lovely performances by everyone ... I thought everyone was really, really talented. It was just really, really captivating.”
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance company. Through music and dance, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, sharing with audiences “China before communism.”
Mr. Angulas and Ms. Childs enjoyed the range of Shen Yun’s program, noting that a number of ethnic and folk dances featuring some of China’s 50-plus ethnic minority groups were included among the classical Chinese dance and story-based dance vignettes. Mr. Angulas spoke of an energetic Tibetan dance performed by the male dancers in the harsh Himalayas, and Ms. Childs a Yi ethnic dance performed by the female dancers in colorful skirts that bloomed across the stage.
“I felt a connection to ancient China,” Mr. Angulas said. He said he felt connected to the characters and moved by the stories and what they meant.
“I love the message of all the stories, and I think they’re very well displayed. I understand what’s going on the whole time,” he said. Mr. Angulas saw themes like dedication and faith, and “I thought that was very touching and very inspiring.”
Ms. Childs said the performance conveyed many feelings, leaving her with a positive one.
“It made me happy. It was touching, yes, very touching,” she said. “I was very hopeful, very inspired.”
Mr. Angulas said he would be telling others about his experience.
“I’m definitely going to recommend it to everyone I know,” Mr. Angulas said.
Reporting by Weiyong Zhu and Catherine Yang.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
