SAN ANTONIO—”If there is an afterlife, hopefully it would be just as beautiful as this one,” said Juan Barrera, consultancy professional, after seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Mr. Barrera, co-founder of public policy consultancy group and former Microsoft executive, attended the performance with his wife and mother Monday night, April 15, at the Lila Cockrell Theatre in San Antonio.
Mr. Barerra was touched by New York-based Shen Yun, and said he and his wife were moved to tears watching the performance.
“From An Unexpected Encounter there was a very sad moment there,” Mr. Barrera said. “It was very powerful.”
Shen Yun seeks to revive traditional Chinese values and principles, like benevolence, wisdom and propriety, and respect for the heavens. The themes are present through the stories told in Shen Yun from the beginning of Chinese civilization to China today, such as in An Unexpected Encounter.
Seeing the culture through the ages, Mr. Barrera said he felt it was a reminder of what was important.
“It reminded me of how busy we are in our everyday lives and we have been disconnected from the things that matter,” he said. “Creating things that are just for our everyday or at least for community uses, as opposed to our own individual purposes. The message of sharing and abundance I think should be staples that everyone should get back to and continue to practice.”
“I feel that watching Shen Yun brings home to us, and that for me personally, I think it’s three or four nights of consecutive fantastic dreams,” Mr. Barrera said.
“Visions and images of what we saw today I think are hopefully going to stay with us tonight and for the next few nights, and hopefully they’ll result in a peaceful night’s sleep,” Mr. Barrera said.
Reporting by Sarah Guo and Catherine Yang
The Shen Yun International Company will be in San Antonio, Texas, through April 17.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
