ESCONDIDO, Calif.—Shen Yun Performing Arts gave its first of five performances tonight with a packed house at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, where theatergoers were treated to a taste of majestic Chinese culture.
“I absolutely loved the show. It has brought me to tears. Several times I have had goose bumps,” shared restaurant owner, Toni Kraft, Restaurant owner and past president and CEO Poway Chamber of Commerce, who was among audience members this Jan.19.
“The combination of the different instruments, that stirs your emotion too but, when you have that combination—I do not think there was one element that was missing,” Ms. Kraft offered, of the Shen Yun Orchestra, which uniquely melds eastern and western classical instruments as well as the highly skilled dancers of classical Chinese dance.
“I think it is a combination of the visuals and the dancing and the movements. It’s effortless! I see those young dancers literally lifted up to the air then come down with no sound. It is amazing to me how that can be. Then you see them moving around, it is like the story is part of their movement. It is really amazing feat to me.”
Ms. Kraft continued, “It literally moved me to tears, several times where you feel if there is enlightenment with the youth and the dancers. They are lifted off the floor. It was amazing to see for it was graceful and energetic.”
Observing something very special about the dancers, Ms. Kraft said, “There is a spiritual movement to it also. It is one body but many dancers. So, it was very very intriguing for me to watch. This is my first time in seeing anything like this.”
One dance in particular that was most stirring to Ms. Kraft was a dance depicting Falun Dafa, a cultivation practice, persecuted today in China.
“When that came, the striking movement between disruption and the beauty between the young couple, and how the literally pulled together and every one rallied around. I am not sure what that meant. It really shook me to see how that came about. There was the balance but it came from hatred and love. It was very moving.”
Ms. Kraft described her prior experience of those who practice Falun Gong as having humility saying, “I heard of Falun Dafa and I have noticed that they are calm … and it brought a balance to their lives.”
Ms, Kraft, who was invited to the show by her doctor of acupuncture, said, “I bought some tickets for my friends and did not know what to expect. It is a different emotion when you see them on stage.”
She explained, “It is very uplifting. I am here with a young lady in a wheel chair who has no movement in her legs, and she has gone to a doctor of Chinese medicine. I brought her here and her desire now is to lift her legs. She says she feels as if it is like it is a miracle. And it has only been an hour. So I am very very, I am very moved.”
“As a woman that is looking for something that calms your life and which keeps you focused, the time just flew by I looked at my watch when I sat down and I looked at my watch now it was almost spell binding,” Ms. Kraft mused.
Reporting by NTD Television and Marsha Savitz.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company is in San Diego for five performances at the California Center for the Arts through Jan. 22.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
