ESCONDIDO, Calif.—California State Senator Brian Jones and his wife attended the performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido on Feb. 9.
“I thought the show was great,” he said.
Production values impressed Sen. Jones. “My wife and I are very familiar with productions. We used to help a long time ago with productions at our church and we were very impressed by the costumes, and the dancing; the music, of course, is incredible. The whole production was very well done.”
There were important messages brought out in the performance, he said. “I hope Americans pick up on how important the First Amendment is to all of us here in the United States, as a cornerstone of our Constitution. The message about China infringing on freedom of speech, [which is] is an important bedrock of the United States Constitution.”
New York-based 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 of China in 1949, the country’s traditional culture underwent a period of mass destruction.
California State Senator Brian Jones (C) presents Shen Yun Performing Arts' emcees (L) and principal dancers (R) with a welcome certificate at the California Center for the Arts, in Escondido, on Feb. 9, 2023. Hu Yudi/The Epoch Times
He expanded on the freedoms people have. “I think that is kind of what I was talking about with the First Amendment and freedom of expression and freedom of religion in the United States.”
He said freedom is important “and that we need to share that with the rest of the world on why that makes a safe country, a good country, and a prosperous country.”
About the dancers’s technique, Sen. Jones said, “Well, I certainly couldn’t do them, and I was very impressed that they must work out quite a bit, and practice quite a bit to get the timing right [to get] all those flips and all those movements synchronized, and so that it looks good and sounds good.”
Sen. Jones and his wife were both impressed that the orchestra played so well even as the stage fog rolled over them after the intermission.
Shen Yun Performing Arts curtain call at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido on Feb. 9, 2023. Hu Yudi/The Epoch Times
He liked that the lyrics of the singers were displayed on the backdrop to help the audience understand the words. “We thought both performers did a very good job singing and having the words up on the screen helped us understand what they were saying.”
“Well, the lyrics obviously come from a position of faith right? There’s obviously some religious symbolism behind that which I thought was interesting.”
He and his wife resonated with all of the traditional values they found in Shen Yun, and “we appreciate that. The appearance is wholesome. It has an uplifting spirit to it and we thought it was very good.”
As for a Creator who has come to save the world, which is something the ancient Chinese believed, Sen. Jones said, “Well, I thought there were some interesting parallels to Christianity in all of that, because Christians kind of believe the same thing.”
Sen. Jones said of his circle, “I think they should come see it.”
Reporting by NTD.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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