WATERBURY, Conn.—After three performances in Waterbury, Conn.’s Palace Theater this week, Shen Yun Performing Arts wrapped up its last with a standing ovation and three curtain calls on Friday.
Among the enthusiastic audience was Helen Lee, a former journalist in Mainland China, who said the performance was “astonishing.”
“The techniques, impression, backdrops, music, and classical dance—every part of it was incredibly good. The Caucasian sitting beside me kept on telling me it is amazing. As a Chinese descendant living in the United States, besides the fact that the Chinese government interferes with [Falun Gong], I still feel very proud. This culture needs to be spread to everywhere in the world,” said Lee, who has lived in the United States for 18 years.
Lee, who came with two other friends from the nearby city of Danbury, said that many of her friends, and herself included, used to misunderstand the performance as a religious promotion, since it included depictions of the persecution of the popular meditation practice of Falun Gong.
“Yet after watching the performance, I realized Shen Yun is a performance that uses classical audio-visual art on multiple levels and areas to bring on stage Chinese culture and traditional Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist values and deep meanings,” she said.
“It was nothing but astounding. Regardless of whatever practice or belief, it is wrong for the government to interfere with it. It is really wrong.”
She said upon experiencing the performance herself, all her earlier misunderstandings have disappeared into thin air. “It was definitely worth watching, worth watching, worth watching, and worth watching.”
Lee added that she is very much in line with Shen Yun’s mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. “I think [Shen Yun] needs to be widely promoted. Children in particular should come and experience Chinese culture,” she said.
Reporting by Hannah Cai and Helena Zhu.
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will next perform at The Merriam Theater, in Philadelphia through Jan. 8.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts
