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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Chris Gordon, a professional dancer, brought his friend Frances Yu, a CPA, to see Shen Yun Performing Arts in the Broward Center, Friday, Feb. 4.
Ms. Yu loved every number. “Every one was my favorite until I heard the next one and liked it even more,” she said. She said she had never seen anything like Shen Yun.
Mr. Gordon added, “It’s a beautiful way to give a deeper message without a big speech. It’s truth.”
Mr. Gordon described the dancers as “very clean and pure.” He appreciated the technical merits of their performances, but was moved more by their spirit.
Ms. Yu saw the dancers in the same way: “Not only are they technically very good, but you can see they have moral character and spirituality.”
Shen Yun, which translates as “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” carries the profound meaning that art is a means of connecting with the higher universe, a concept inspired by Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, at a time when these belief systems were strong in China.
Though many of Shen Yun’s dance legends reflect the rich and diverse cultural landscape of ancient China, they also tell stories of contemporary life in the country. The dances express the artists’ longing for their traditional culture, and real-life tales of life under an authoritarian state.
Ms. Yu’s parent were in China when Mao’s communists took over and Ms. Yu was raised in Taiwan. She said she didn’t feel good about current conditions in China, even though she felt proud of the Chinese culture and very proud of being Chinese.
Ms. Yu took from the show the importance of the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. She said she thought that the current Chinese regime wouldn’t like this message.
“I just hope that the Chinese government won’t do any harm to them,” she said. “I’m sure they’re not going to like the message they’re sending out.”
Mr. Gordon felt confident that righteousness would prevail in its own way. “This is like a seed and the voice keeps growing louder and louder and eventually people see that it doesn’t need to be like this,” he said.
“It will happen. Even without violence it will happen.”
Reporting by Victoria Wu and Chris Jasurek.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
