On behalf of the Iowa Senate, Senator Zach Nunn personally presented Shen Yun a certificate, thanking all the performers for their commitment to sharing 5,000 years of culture.
Tony Caligiuri, president of Boyt Harness Company, attended a performance with his family.
“Their dedication is amazing,” said Caligiuri. “What impacted me most personally was the freedom that we have in this country versus what they don’t have in China currently even though things are changing everyday. It’s still not what we have here.”
In China today, people are not free to have spiritual beliefs. Based in New York, Shen Yun can express elements of the divinity from the almost-lost traditional culture.
“The show just brought basically a sense of peace—that we’re part of a much larger universe,” said Ed Stefan, owner of FICMRepairs. “If we lose focus of what’s important and we get tied up into our daily lives, we just lose immensely, there aren’t words. We have to remember always what’s important—a higher power, and if you don’t believe in that higher power it could end badly for you.”
“I think they did an excellent job of presenting it. Every culture is different, but I think in many ways, we all think the same, and I think the audience identified with a lot of what they were bringing to the dance and interpretation,” said Caligiuri.
“I think it’s really important to be in tune with your own culture and your history, and so I think it’s really nice to see that they’re reviving this and keeping it alive,” said Gregory Fuerst, a microbiology researcher at Iowa State University.
“It was just so exciting. You had comedy, you had some drama, you had redemption, all those things. It was a really great show,” said Scott Willsey, a program coordinator at Iowa State University. “I felt good. It was something that I needed after a long couple of months.”
“The authenticity of it, it’s truly, spectacularly beautiful. There aren’t words,” said Stefan. “Just great color and vibrancy and you just couldn’t ask for more. It is an amazing experience, I’d encourage it to anyone.”
NTD News, Des Moines, Iowa
