Known as the birthplace of Father’s Day, Spokane welcomed Shen Yun with two full house performances at the First Interstate Center for the Arts.
Chris Patterson, director of business solutions at Food Services of America attended a performance with a friend on April 9.
“It’s amazing. Absolutely amazing. The colors, the activity, the pageantry, the uniformity, it’s just really brilliant,” he said.
“I love it. I think it’s beautiful and colorful and moving. I’ve gasped a few times and laughed and teared up a little bit. It’s been an emotional but beautiful ride,” said Stephanie Regalado, editor-in-chief of Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living Magazine.
“The last one before the break really stuck out to me and that was about the religious freedom, and the ongoing persecution that’s going [on] right now in China. That actually really hit me kind of hard,” said Patterson.
He was referring to the persecution of Falun Dafa, a peaceful meditation group that cannot be practiced in China today.
“I felt scared and nervous and I felt upset that this still happens around the world. Where people don’t have the freedom to choose their religion. In the end, I thought it was very beautiful [that] she was reunited and kind of the religion comes back in to help her rise up again from that moment,” said Regalado.
“Those evil powers that come in and try to pull people and control people and the vindication on the other side when people really do come together and support one another in groups and kind of form power together to upset that and rise above it,” she said. “I think the more that we can feed our minds with the realities that are around us, the more we can rise up and become voices on a collaborative level and a collective level to help perpetuate goodness and freedom and choice.”
“I just think we always need to work towards the freedom of the mind for all people. I think that’s an important thing for everyone to work for and I appreciate seeing that here,” said Patterson. “It’s worth it. It’s absolutely worth your time and energy and effort, and I wouldn’t even hesitate about going to this show. It’s fabulous.”
“I feel like it’s a gift to be able to witness the culture and have that revival come up and sit in the audience because it’s fun and it’s quirky, and they’re interactive. So it’s not just this heaviness—it’s just a lot of fun and beauty involved too,” said Regalado.
NTD News, Spokane, Washington
