SAN ANTONIO—”It was enchanting,” Ms. Jeanne Schott, a former crisis center director, said of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Lila Cockrell Theatre Wednesday afternoon.
“It tells a story, and it’s very beautiful,” Ms. Schott said. “I really admire it and appreciate what they did.”
Ms. Schott said that the New York-based Shen Yun sent her an inspiring message, and that she was enchanted by the singers and dancers alike.
“There’s a lot of hope under oppression,” Ms. Schott said. “That you never give up, and you keep believing that life can be good, and you make it good on the way—it’s heartfelt.”
Shen Yun revives 5,000 years of Chinese civilization—a culture that holds principles like benevolence, respect for the heavens, and divine retribution at its core.
“I’m yearning to learn more about it actually, after this,” Ms. Schott said. “I like the respect.”
Ms. Schott said watching the performance was encouraging, and it touched her to see in the performance that traditional Chinese culture, which is not present in China today, is being resurrected by Shen Yun.
“I know it’s still going on,” Ms. Schott said of the religious persecution in China. “They’ve lived under oppression, but they have the courage, and strength, and beauty, and grace.”
“I certainly will be here myself next year, and I’ll encourage others to come,” Ms. Schott added. “It was a very good feeling, and I’m so happy about being here. And I learned some things … that with grace and courage, life goes on, and it can be beautiful.”
Reverend BeeDee Doublet also saw the afternoon’s performance and felt the need to watch it again as well.
Ms. Doublet said she has the urge to share the performance with others, and “always come back not just to watch a performance, but to watch the truth of what they’re trying to teach us … from the heart.”
“It’s more than just a performance,” Ms. Doublet explained. “It’s a matter of the heart and a matter of the spirit.”
“I could see in their faces that it wasn’t just about performing, but it’s about believing what they were performing. So it was phenomenal for me,” she said.
“It’s more than just a culture,” Ms. Doublet concluded. “It is again the matter of spirit, the matter of the heart, the matter of believing, and the matter of faith.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Catherine Yang
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
