SAN FRANCISCO—On Jan. 5, fashion consultant and company owner J.R. Nuerge and her friend Jennifer Meighan, a senior analyst, attended Shen Yun’s fourth and final performance at the War Memorial Opera House. They thoroughly enjoyed the matinee performance.
“It’s beautiful. The discipline, the art, the costumes, the dedication, the joy—I just love the joy on the dancers’ faces. They’re clearly in heaven.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 by a group of leading Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of China’s ruling communist party. Following the regime’s violent takeover in 1949, Chinese traditional culture underwent a period of mass destruction.
“The ancient stories—how it went all the way from Creation to the modern time—just sends a nice message,” Ms. Nuerge said.
“The message is that we’re all human beings, and we should all be treated the same instead of being [discriminated] for our religion or our politics or anything like that. We love everybody.”
As a spiritual person, Ms. Meighan really appreciated Shen Yun’s incorporation of the divine in the performance.
She loved the story-based programs depicting good people ascending to heaven and “the love and joy and acceptance of returning to our Creator.”
The show was “impressive, meaningful, and spiritual,” she said. “It’s the combination of athleticism—the impressive training, the joy, and also the spiritual message. It’s wonderful. It’s rare.”
“It really makes a difference,” she explained. “I don’t have to be looking through the program book in the dark and saying, ‘What’s next?’ I loved that.”
“Some of the color combinations I’ve never seen before. The mint green with the lavender—just gorgeous,” she said.
“The costumes are beautiful. I loved the long sleeves because they can really do a lot of maneuvers with that, and it just fills up the whole stage. Also, the big sleeves from the Tang Dynasty were gorgeous.”
The “water sleeves” were a feature of ancient Chinese feminine attire, symbolizing humility and grace. Light and airy, they billow and flow on stage, evoking the gentle movement of water.
Ms. Nuerge would like to tell Shen Yun’s artistic director that “he’s a genius.”
“I really want to tell everybody [about the show] and come again next year,” she said.
