SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco War Memorial Opera House is an impressive theater with its marble columns and high, embellished ceilings. It calls to mind the elegance of the past, and one can imagine the great performers of all times standing on the stage. It is a place suited to the majesty and divine grandeur of Shen Yun Performing Arts. It is a place suited to superlatives. And to this place on Saturday, Jan. 7, came Dr. Ferne Franklin, a pharmacist full of superlatives describing this show.
“It was pure beauty, perfection, gracefulness, and effortless athleticism. It was a feast for the eyes, really. It’s beautiful! I liked it and I learned a lot about the Chinese culture that I didn’t realize,” she effused.
And what was it she learned about Chinese culture?
“They talked about the divine and about beauty and compassion. You could feel the pureness of thought and what they were trying to communicate,” she explained. “Something is occurring in China where I guess there’s a movement of compassion, and it’s not being accepted.”
In the dance The Dafa Practitioner’s Magical Encounter, the program book tells us a practitioner of Falun Dafa responds to persecution in China by displaying a banner proclaiming “Falun Dafa is Good” outside his home. For his action, he is chased down and assaulted by police. The young man flees to a secluded mountain alcove, where he begins to meditate. When the police try to arrest him they met with a surprise.
About classical Chinese dance, she noted, “Something I think is so core to the Chinese culture obviously is the dance. It’s expressive and just beautiful.”
The Shen Yun emcees note that Shen Yun cannot be seen in China, due to the current regime’s attempts to abuse and damage traditional culture, including the arts.
“I’m shocked!” said Dr. Franklin, saddened that freedom of expression is being controlled in China.
Reporting by Alex Ma and Diana Mathias.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun New York Company will perform in San Francisco until Jan. 8, and then Los Angeles, Jan. 11 to 14. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
