AUSTIN—Terry and Carole Knudsen expected beauty from Shen Yun Performing Arts after seeing the advertisements, but they saw in person was “even better!” Mr. Knudsen said at the Long Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 27.
“Oh, it was tremendous,” said Mr. Knudsen, the former director of finance for the city of Lampasas, Texas.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and Mr. Knudsen thought it really showed in the dancers’ performance.
The couple are patrons of the arts, recently having seen another performance at the Long Center, and shared how much they enjoyed Shen Yun’s classical Chinese dance.
“You appreciate it because you know how difficult it is,” he said.
Mrs. Knudsen, a retired insurance agent, said she felt warm and comforted seeing the performance, knowing that all the beauty Shen Yun presented on stage was once in the world.
“I felt blessed,” she said. “Very, very blessed ... knowing that there was this a long time ago.”
Through classical Chinese dance, the dancers performed stories of love, redemption, faith, mischief, heroism, and more.
“It really made me feel warm, and felt like there was something special we all needed to know is out there,” she said. “There is a being that is more powerful than us.”
Mr. Knudsen said he gained “an appreciation of things fine,” knowing that Shen Yun “put together these cultural things that the communists tried to take away.”
“This shows you there is such beautiful stuff,” he said.
“It makes you feel hope,” Mrs. Knudsen added.
