Shen Yun ‘Went Right to Our Hearts Like an Express Train,’ Says Dance School Owner
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(L-R): Philip Kesmarki, Carina Hammerschmidt, Christine and Zoltan Kesmarki attended Shen Yun’s evening show at the Forum Am Schlosspark, on Feb. 23, 2023. Hai Ying/The Epoch Times
LUDWIGSBURG, Germany—Christine Kesmarki, the owner of a ballroom dance school, comes from a family full of artists—her husband Zoltan is a professional dancer, and her son Philip is a violinist.
Mrs. Kesmarki happily brought them along with her to attend Shen Yun’s evening performance at the Forum Am Schlosspark on Feb. 23. The family thought it was an absolute dream.
“It’s beautiful! We learned a lot tonight. This is the origin of ballet, of dancing. It’s graceful and just perfect,” Mrs. Kesmarki said.
“I have the highest respect for these artists on stage who had trained their bodies for thousands of hours and still stand there with a smile. It’s a feast for the eyes and goes straight to the heart. Divine, divine!”
Philip Kesmarki, at Shen Yun’s evening show at the Forum Am Schlosspark, on Feb. 23, 2023. NTD
Philip, who is seeing Shen Yun for the second time, couldn’t agree more with his mother.
“I would like to come much more often. I’m always enchanted by the culture, the costumes, and the [different] types of dancing,” he said.
“The traditional instruments mixed with our European orchestra—it enchants me again and again. I could watch it for hours!”
The New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s leading classical Chinese dance and music company.
According to its website, Shen Yun’s orchestra seamlessly combines the best of the East and the West by using a classic Western ensemble as the foundation to highlight traditional Chinese instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and the pipa, an ancient Chinese lute.
Together with the dancers on stage, its powerful melodies tell enthralling tales and legends drawn from China’s 5,000 years of civilization.
Zoltan Kesmarki at Shen Yun’s evening show at the Forum Am Schlosspark, on Feb. 23, 2023. NTD
As a fellow dancer, Mr. Kesmarki felt very inspired. “China’s 5,000 years is like a fairytale. It’s just beautiful. I can’t describe it any other way. I would love to get on the stage and dance along,” he expressed. “That would be the most beautiful thing.”
The spiritual aspect of Shen Yun also brought him a deeper connection with Chinese people. “There are certainly stories in every culture about how life starts and how it continues after death, and about the gods. It’s very nice to see and experience that,” he said.
Mr. Kesmarki also loved that Shen Yun is reviving traditional culture.
“Back to the old traditions—everybody should write that on their foreheads to remind them every day that’s how life should be. Life is moving fast, and everything is crazy, we should return to the old values. That was the most beautiful message for me.”
Philip chimed in that the loyalty displayed in Shen Yun’s story-based dances, which he felt was very touching, can’t be found in modern society anymore.
He said people need to bring such values back because “it will one day be important again when [we discover that] nothing in the world holds together anymore. We need to first have loyalty to have unity.”
Mrs. Kesmarki was most impressed by Shen Yun’s courage in speaking up against the Chinese communist regime’s persecution. In fact, the whole family had tears in their eyes.
“It was very interesting, very exciting, and very daring too. I find it quite great to take a behind-the-scenes look at [modern-day] China—the violence, the restriction of freedom, and the oppression of the people,” she said. “[Shen Yun’s portrayal] touched you very much and makes you think a lot.”
“Shen Yun opened our hearts. It went right to our hearts like an express train. It is just inspiring. We can only be glad and happy that we live in this free world. It makes us appreciate and respect it even more. Shen Yun showed us that.”
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