Indianapolis Company President Touched by Spiritual Aspects of Shen Yun

INDIANAPOLIS—The artistry and spirituality of Shen Yun were just two aspects that impressed Mr. Andy Barker. The president of a US correctional company joined the appreciative audience welcoming the return of Shen Yun Performing Arts to Indianapolis.

Continuing the Midwest leg of its 2011 tour, Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company graced the stage of Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler University during its opening performance, Friday evening, March 4.

“The show is awesome! The costumes and the colors are amazing. Very bright, very brilliant, alive. It’s very neat, very awesome.”

Mr. Barker thoroughly enjoyed the short, story-based dance pieces. Audiences world-wide have thrilled to New York-based Shen Yun’s colorful and exhilarating performances of classical Chinese dance. He elaborated that he was touched by the deeper, spiritual aspects, “I learned a lot of things that I’ve never seen before. Just about a lot of the different beliefs, and lot of the different ways that they dance and express themselves in their dancing.

“I didn’t know about [classical Chinese] culture and the past, and what the different beliefs were.” Mr. Barker said he appreciated how Shen Yun portrayed the cultural traditions of ancient China through dances and songs.

He was also amazed by the animated backdrops that set the stage amid blossoming landscapes or deep forests. “It’s very neat how they dance . . . and then they take off into the sky. It’s very neat.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma and Jeanmarie Lunsford.