SAN ANTONIO—Knowing that Shen Yun Performing Arts showed a side of China that is not shown elsewhere, Ernie Martinez decided it would be the perfect performance to take the whole family to so his children could learn about the divinely inspired culture that permeated China for 5,000 years.
“It gets me emotional. And so for the kids ... it’s very important that they understand,” said Mr. Martinez, an engineer and consultant.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier
classical Chinese dance company and has a
mission to show audiences around the globe “China before communism.” The artists received a warm farewell from San Antonio, the audience giving a standing ovation through two curtain calls on Feb. 2, the last of Shen Yun’s four-show run in the city.
Mr. Martinez said that when he was in college, he had the opportunity to learn about
Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual discipline that teaches the three principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance, as well as five meditative exercises.
Shen Yun was founded by Falun Gong practitioners, many who had experienced religious persecution in China by the communist regime before finding freedom of expression overseas.
Although Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is practiced in around 100 countries around the world, it is banned in China and persecuted by the communist regime. This is but one reason why
Shen Yun cannot perform in China—another is that the programs often include a story-based dance set in the present day, showing the Chinese people who hold onto faith and tradition despite persecution by the communist regime.
Mr. Martinez said he wanted his children to learn about what he had learned and knew Shen Yun conveyed this story and a beautiful culture.
Mrs. Martinez, a music teacher, enjoyed the unique
orchestra blending East and West, as she loves music and understands its power to transcend cultural barriers. She had bought her husband a
pipa—a Chinese lute with a history of thousands of years—which Mr. Martinez was delighted to discover was featured in Shen Yun’s orchestra alongside the Western classical instruments.
“For me, it’s important for the kids to understand both Western and
Eastern philosophy,” Mr. Martinez said.
Jose Seda, a doctor, said he had known little about China before communism until he saw Shen Yun. He discovered that the Chinese were a
spiritual people before the communist regime seized power and resonated with the divinely inspired culture he saw brought to life on stage.
“We learned about the culture, about their belief in a higher power, and there’s a lot of similarities with some of our beliefs, too, in the divine,” he said.
“They’ve done an amazing job, and they really are inspiring,” he said. “It’s so good to see people that dedicate so much, you know, their lives to a craft to become so good. And to see them perform at their best is just very inspiring.”
Tim Schwab, retired senior chief in logistics with the U.S. Navy, also saw the performance the afternoon of Feb. 2, and said he hadn’t realized China before communism was a spiritual one.
As a spiritual man himself, he said watching the performance, he felt right at home.
“I love the show,” he said. “Inspirational.”
Reporting by Sally Sun, Sherry Dong, and Catherine Yang.
