RIVERSIDE, Calif.—Aaron Watene is a songwriter, and he thoroughly enjoyed seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts on April 24.
“[Shen Yun was] awesome. I love all of it. The dancing is so amazing. Music is great. The singing, especially, I love that,” Mr. Watene said.
Shen Yun is based in New York, and its mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
As a songwriter, Mr. Watene enjoys adding elements of his Polynesian background into his music. He was pleased to hear Shen Yun’s blending of Chinese instruments in its Western orchestra.
“It’s great. I like to incorporate a lot of Polynesian music into what I do. So hearing a little bit of the ethnic and culture music mixed with the Western stuff is really cool,” he said.
Shen Yun’s resident composers work closely with Shen Yun’s choreographers each season to make sure that each beat fits closely with every movement.
“I love it. It feels complicated, but it is also very easy to listen to. Very melodic. I love all that. It sounds great,” Mr. Watene said, adding that he felt empowerment and happiness in the music.
Shen Yun’s singers are trained in bel canto technique, and the digital backdrop provides a translation of the Chinese text being sung.
“She sang like an angel. It was just really beautiful. Very touching. I couldn’t understand the words, but I could feel it,” Mr. Watene said, adding that his girlfriend shed tears during the soprano performance.
Shen Yun’s performance consists of classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dances, and dance stories. A consistent theme in these dance stories is that a steadfast belief in the divine and good intentions meets with good outcomes.
Mr. Watene shared that he saw “a message of hope. And perseverance and keeping going, that kind of thing. It’s beautiful.”
China was once known as the land of the divine. From the emperor to his people, everyone looked to divinity as their moral compass.
“I didn’t know that about that. I’m very spiritual myself. It’s really cool to see that in this performance, seeing some kind of divine inspiration in the show and also in the music as well,” Mr. Watene remarked.
In one of Shen Yun’s dances, the true story of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted for their faith is depicted. Mr. Watene was surprised to learn about the crimes that the Chinese Communist Party is committing every day.
“It’s really sad. I don’t really know what’s going on over there as much as I hoped I would, but to have something like that happen to people, especially, just being persecuted like that is. It’s not good. It’s sad, and I wish them the best. And I hope, hope that things are getting better,” he said.
Reporting by NTD and Maria Han.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
