PHILADELPHIA—”This was the performance of the year for me,” said Abbas Shirmohammadi, founder of Panoramic Visions a prominent photography business in the nation’s capital. “I came all the way from Washington D.C.”
He came to The Merriam Theater just to see Shen Yun Performing Arts on Saturday evening after seeing a previous performance at the Kennedy Center.
“It was unbelievable and I saw it again here tonight,” Mr. Shirmohammadi said. “It was fantastic. Well done. I would like to commend and congratulate the producers of the show.”
New York-based Shen Yun ended its performance to a standing ovation and three curtain calls. The music and dance company’s website was established in 2006, and now has three performance troupes and orchestras traveling annually to more than one hundred cities across the world with one mission: reviving 5,000 years of Chinese culture after Communist rule in China threatened to eradicate it.
Mr. Shirmohammadi was especially touched by Shen Yun’s courage of performing dances that show the present day persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Shen Yun’s website says “themes like spiritual devotion, the benevolence of gods, good and evil retribution, and the search for the meaning of life,” are seen in these dances.
“That was a very strong message,” said Mr. Shirmohammadi. “I hope other conflicts all over the world, they come to the same conclusion that we saw tonight.”
The heart of a Shen Yun performance, says its website, is Classical Chinese dance. Colorful, handcrafted regalia, a digital backdrop, award-winning vocalists, and an orchestra that melds classical Western instruments with Eastern instruments like the 4,000-year-old erhu, or two-stringed Chinese violin, are other components of Shen Yun.
“The performance was just unbelievable,” said Mr. Shirmohammadi. “The colors, choreography, the music—everything was fantastic. To be honest with you, I’m going to follow the show everywhere they perform.”
“It was not only a Chinese performance, I think it was more global. With all the activities that’s going on right now all over the world, they deliver such a fantastic and a strong message to everybody that maybe there’s a time for people to come to their senses.
“And maybe people get along a little bit better, and respect each others’ traditions and values all over the world.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Zack Stieber.
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will be at The Merriam Theater, in Philadelphia for one more performance, then next in New York through Jan, 15.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
