JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Shen Yun consoled sisters Mary Ann Aycock and Ellen Middleton when they marked their late father’s birthday at the Times-Union Center for Performing Arts on Jan. 29.
“We’re here because this is our father’s birthday, and our mother just died, and both of our parents,” Ms. Middleton said. “So this was a gift for us to come and a really special occasion. We both love saying not only we’ll remember that we came, [but] it was a memorable experience.”
Ms. Aycock was a ballet dancer and teacher and managed a dance company at the Florida State Community College in Jacksonville. Ms. Middleton is a financial adviser with both Ellen O. Middleton and Associates and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.
Artist and educator Ms. Aycock said that Shen Yun was beautiful, and she wishes that every student could see Shen Yun and appreciate the freedom the artists have in the United States to express their art without censorship.
Ms. Aycock loved Shen Yun’s stories, which are told through dance, and thought they would be great for families. “I think young children would love the story-telling part of it,” she said.
Ms. Middleton said she was moved by the stories of courage and upright values and said that traditional Chinese culture and human history “is all the same thing.”
She elaborated about the universal themes she saw in the performance. “It’s all egos battling against spirit and trying to get power, and freedom is the gift that brings beauty and art,” Ms. Middleton said.
The sisters plan to tell people about Shen Yun. “When they come again, we’ll get everyone to come. Bring your grandchildren—you’ve never seen anything like it,” she said.
“It’s beautiful, it’s entertaining, and it’s educational,” Ms. Aycock said.
Ms. Middleton said she wanted to see Shen Yun because she heard that Shen Yun could not perform in China. She could not understand why that would be, so she wanted to see for herself.
“‘Why can’t a Chinese cultural show be seen in its homeland?'” the Shen Yun website asks. “The explanation dates back to the Cultural Revolution and systematic attempts to wipe out the heritage of 5,000 years of civilization. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture,” the website states.
Reporting by Edie Bassen and Kelly Ni.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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