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BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Shen Yun Performing Arts brought the Concert Hall at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex alive with the sights and sounds of ancient China on Friday, Aug. 21.
Among the distinguished guests at the performance were Mayor Edward E. May, of Bessemer, Ala., and his wife Mrs. Patricia May.
Mayor May is in his second term as mayor and has practiced law in the Birmingham area since 1980. He owns his own law firm.
Speaking to the Shen Yun performers at the VIP reception after the show, the mayor commented on how energetic they were.
"I feel tired watching them, but at the same time it was exhilarating. It was great … it really was.”
Mr. May also enjoyed the state-of-the-art 3-D digital backdrop displaying animated images—breathtaking scenery of blossoming landscapes or celestial palaces.
“I tell you the backdrops … the change of scenery and the brilliant colors—it was so realistic. It was great! I just wish I had the energy they had,” he said.
“Also, they had a lot of water in the scenes, in the background. I love water—that was so therapeutic. I really enjoyed it. I had a great time.”
As a lawyer, Mr. May is well aware of injustices in the world. He is a past president of the Magic City Bar Association and agrees that injustice to anyone is injustice to everyone.
“I want to be fair … treat everybody equally, and not tolerate what I call foolishness,” he said. “And the foolishness is when you don’t treat people as people, when you don’t treat people humanely—that to me is foolishness, and I have no tolerance for it.”
Commenting on liberties and freedoms in America as opposed to the lack of freedoms in other parts of the world, Mr. May said,“Because if it’s [injustice] in China today, and nothing is done about it to eradicate it so that everybody would have these very same freedoms and liberties if you will, then in time if you allow evil to go unchecked, the evil will come to you, and it will consume you also.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has experienced interference from Chinese communist authorities during its world tour. Authorities have sent letters and made phone calls in many countries, warning of trade and other consequences of attending the show.
Mr. May found this difficult to understand.
“I would think that you would want people to understand and appreciate your culture. … We’re all people, we’re all human, we’re all made by God, whether you believe in my God or some other God, you still believe in God. … If they’re threatening folks, then the world should say no to that. Just stand up and say no!”
“The dancers are so good, they are perfect. And the shapes, the skin texture, the hair, everything is just perfect. Even the orchestra, it’s just perfect.”
Mrs. May remembered seeing a poster around town promoting the show. She had no idea that she would be coming.
“My husband yesterday said, ‘Here you go.’ I couldn’t believe this. I wanted to go to this so bad, and I got my heart’s desire. When I got here and saw all these colors, my eyes were all large, looking at everything. It was so exciting, so refreshing, it would calm my spirit.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed it. … I just love the arts.”
Mrs. May said that she often goes to performances with friends and co-workers, but that this show was different.
“And believe it or not, you understand everything that’s going on,” she said.
Hosted in both English and Chinese, each performance is given a brief introduction, enabling Westerners and Chinese alike to better understand the nuances of Chinese culture.
“They’re all very, very good,” Mrs. May said. “And the words on the screen help a lot. And the background, the drops, everything is just perfect. So you can’t say that just because it’s in Chinese you can’t come. It’s a family event.”
Commenting on the piece Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution, in which a father is tortured to death for practicing Falun Dafa, a traditional spiritual discipline, she said: “It was so very sad when they kill the father. And I was in the front row, and we could see everything.”
Mrs. May said she was going to tell everybody about the show.
“I really did enjoy it, and the singing, the lady, her voice is so high, and the tenor’s voice!
Everybody was perfect. “The lady who performed with, what do you call that instrument [erhu—a two-stringed traditional Chinese instrument], it was perfect too. Everybody was really, really wonderful. We were just blessed to have [Shen Yun] in our city.”
Jane Andrews contributed to this article.
Shen Yun is performing one more show in Birmingham, Ala., on Aug. 22, at the Concert Hall, Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Then, a six-run show will be held at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center Opera House from Aug. 26 to 30.
For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
