SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shows ‘The Strength of the Human Soul’: Texas Judge

Feb 19, 2023

SAN ANTONIO—The number of people who have seen or heard about Shen Yun Performing Arts only increases every year, and more and more people are realizing that Shen Yun, based in New York, presents a side of China worlds away from the current country under communist rule.

The actors and the performers were magnificent, and the stories were moving.

— Danny Kindred

“It was enlightening. It was moving. When I came here, my wife and I actually said, I don’t know if we want to be paying money to the Chinese government right now. But then we realized that this is not necessarily a Chinese government thing, but the people were wonderful. The actors and the performers were magnificent, and the stories were moving. I mean, it was just fantastic. We’re definitely coming again,” said Danny Kindred, Judge of the 454th Judicial District Court in Medina County. He and his wife saw Shen Yun at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts on the evening of Feb. 18.

Shen Yun, formed in 2006, is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, coming out with an all-new production each touring season. This year’s program boasts the tagline of “China before communism,” which Mr. Kindred found to be surprisingly spiritual, and full of shared values.

Mr. Kindred said during the performance, he picked up “the spiritual hope of it.”

“With God and spiritual hope,” he said. “And it was just wonderful. I loved it and I’m a Christian. I’m not a Buddhist or anything but I’ve just found something that I can embrace and grab and hold onto, that just talks about the freedom of man, the human spirit, the human soul, and God and all that, I love that.”

Once known as the “Land of the Divine,” Chinese civilization was built on the spiritual teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. The culmination of these 5,000 years is often summarized as the five cardinal virtues: loyalty, propriety, wisdom, benevolence, and justice. These universal values are shared the world over and recognized as such by many audience members, including Mr. Kindred.

“It’s about forgiveness, it’s about faith, it’s about love. It’s about enduring things,” he said. “We live and die of our faith, by our spiritual element, and right now in the world, especially in our country and in many countries like China, we need that. We need people to humble themselves and to love each other and to realize that we’re all in this together.”

Danny and Carrie Kindred at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, on Feb. 18, 2023. (Sally Sun/The Epoch Times) — Danny and Carrie Kindred at Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, on Feb. 18, 2023. Sally Sun/The Epoch Times

Mr. Kindred recognized during the performance that the Chinese people living under communist rule cannot openly live by their faith safely and freely. One of Shen Yun’s dance dramas directly addresses the fact, with a story showing people of faith standing up for traditional values even in the present day. However, in China, they face persecution by the communist regime.

“Well, it’s moving. I’m also a retired soldier, and you know, when we look at freedom and liberty that we cherish here in these countries, in our country, I mean, when we look at people like in China who struggle against it, it is so moving because we have it; they don’t and they struggle against it,” Mr. Kindred said.

“It reminds me of the strength of the human soul to be free and have liberty and to be, just to be free and wonderful.”

It was an experience that moved Mr. Kindred’s heart and mind.

“I came here not knowing what to expect, and I was so embraced—just awed by it,” he said.“I’m definitely coming back and I’m going to bring my family next time.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma.

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