Audience members who attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts on March 23 in Salt Lake City, Utah, praised the performers’ professionalism.
“I have never seen a performance done by a group of performers with more heart, and more spirit, and more passion, than this,” said Benjamin King, founder of Blue Petal Foundation.
“I also really noticed a high level of polish with this performance that I haven’t seen in any other performance,” said Allison Roberts, CEO of Burst Fitness. “Because usually when you have a live performance, there are mistakes, whether that be with music or dance steps, there’s some kind of human error that happens. I did not notice, I did not see one single time where people misspoke, or had the wrong dance move or had the wrong music. Like, it was perfect, it was flawless … the whole way through.”
“The acrobatics, the flips, the movements. I saw some moves that I’ve never seen before tonight. So it was really impressive,” said Jeff Jacobs, an attorney.
“It’s very comical, it’s very enjoyable. It’s something that I’ve just been really surprisingly into,” said Andres Carter, a senior benefits consultant at GoHealth. “I kind of expected this to be more of a gift for my wife. This was going to be more for her. But the more I’m watching the more I’m enjoying, more I’m getting into it.”
Shen Yun uses Classical Chinese dance to show a wider range of expressions to tell stories and show China’s divinely inspired culture.
“The ancient Chinese spiritual culture was presented with such authenticity,” said Mr. King. “It was like being transported back into that time period where spirituality was a part of every aspect of life.”
“Being a big spiritual background that it is here in Utah, it’s really amazing to see that you can see a whole different side of that just on the other side of the world in China,” said Mr. Carter.
“There were times where I got a little emotional, sometimes teared up a little bit just because of some of the messages that were shared and some of the challenges too and some of the stories that were shared,” said Gabriel Roberts, a legal research consultant at Thomson Reuters.
Shen Yun’s pieces draw inspiration from ancient values where people strive to live according to values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
“You don’t see a lot of that in today’s TV or performances,” said Mr. Roberts. “It’s more comedic, and there were some funny parts in this performance as well, right? It got us to laugh but it’s just refreshing having those values at the forefront of everything that they were doing and portraying.”
“I found myself thinking about how this mission that they’re on inspires them to join this Shen Yun company and perform these dances,” Mr. Jacobs.
“To reconnect to this spirit and liveliness ties us back to where we divinely come from and where we can look forward to as humanity in a brighter and more beautiful future,” said Mr. King.
NTD News, Salt Lake City, Utah
