TUCSON, Ariz.—Carmen Romo has been attending Shen Yun Performing Arts as a family tradition every year for the past four years, each time bringing along someone who is experiencing Shen Yun for the first time.
“And it’s just wonderful every single time. We just can’t get enough of it,” said Ms. Romo, a retired business owner, after seeing this season’s performance at the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall on Feb. 8. “And God willing, we'll be here next year.”
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and through music and dance brings to life 5,000 years of Chinese civilization in an all-new production each year.
The digital backdrop, in particular, brought new surprises that even Ms. Romo and members of the family who had seen Shen Yun last season had never seen before.
“It’s just like, wow, do they do that? And I was listening to the people behind me, and they were making the same comments: ‘Wow, look at that,’” Ms. Romo said, referring to the backdrop of Shen Yun’s own design, now patented as original.
“I can’t say enough,” Ms. Romo said. “We come back every year because you get a different story and it’s different every single time. You get a different story and it’s different every single time.”
“What can I say? It’s wonderful, it’s wonderful,” she added.
Also in the audience was Rose Cain, an entrepreneur, and her son Thomas Hernandez, who were seeing Shen Yun for the first time.
“It’s the most beautiful production I’ve ever seen,” Ms. Cain said.
“It’s beautiful. It’s wonderful. And it’s exact,” she added, explaining that there was not a single unnecessary addition to the performance.
“It’s very uplifting,” said Mr. Hernandez.
“That shows strength. And it shows commitment,” Ms. Cain said. “It shows love of the history of your country.”
Ms. Cain said she only wished she had seen Shen Yun “a long time ago.”
“This helps you relax,” she said. “People come in here depressed for personal reasons. But I’ve seen how they smile. All they’re doing is thinking about the show. They’re not thinking about themselves. You know? They’re thinking about the show, the history. And it was before communism. It’s beautiful.”
