From The Epoch Times
Shen Yun Performing Arts returns to Texas on Dec. 26 at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts with eight performances through New Year’s Day before returning for two more on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28.
Since its establishment in 2006, the world-renowned classical Chinese dance company has grown to eight equally sized groups that will begin the tour on three continents this week. Audiences on Dec. 23 welcomed Shen Yun in Nagoya, Japan, and Atlanta, Georgia.
In Houston, Shen Yun is a holiday tradition.
For many years, the city enjoyed the distinction of being the very first city on New York-based Shen Yun’s world tour.
Thousands of Houston theatergoers have rang in the New Year with Shen Yun, including Michael and Fiona Mellett, who said seeing Shen Yun was like a dream come true on New Year’s Day last season.
“It’s been like a long dream,” said Mrs. Mellett. “Today is the day,” Mr. Mellett agreed.
The Melletts both sing, and Mr. Mellett is the vocal director of Lakewood Church, the largest church in the United States. The megachurch can see some 45,000 attendees a week, meeting in a stadium where Mr. Mellett conducts a 300-piece choir, and the Mellets are no strangers to trying to create an immersive experience.
Shen Yun, with its world-class dancers and orchestra, couture costumes, and unique stagecraft that utilizes patented backdrop technology, was just that, the couple shared.
“It made us feel part of it, part of the traditions—part of the culture. It was a beautiful experience, really,” Mr. Mellett said.
Mrs. Mellet said that Shen Yun’s revival of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization was “powerful and necessary.”
“We believe in truth, and we believe in justice. And we believe that it’s important to be able to explain and make people aware in a way that you bring them in—it’s beautiful,” she said.
“You bring them in, and you make them feel,” she said. “It’s lovely. And give them a perspective of all that is precious and wonderful. But then tell them the hard parts too … and to help the people understand what really being Chinese is all about.”
Audience member Ruy Castellan also felt that Shen Yun showed people what being Chinese was all about and that it wasn’t anything like the China the Chinese communist regime presents.
“Never really put it together. Had I known that it was an anti-communist thing, I would have come years before,” he said. Once he realized it, he decided he would see the performance on the first day of the new year. “This is a stand against communist China.”
Ancient China was a spiritual civilization with a society centered on the idea of harmony between heaven, earth, and humankind. For five millennia, the ancient Chinese believed their culture was divinely inspired.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive the “China before communism” and share it with the world through art.
Surgeon Emad Asham and his wife Christine said that though the traditional Chinese culture was unfamiliar to them, in Shen Yun’s performance, they saw universal values that hit home.
“To revive such a magnificent art is really outstanding,” said Mr. Asham.
Virtues like faith and kindness are eroding in today’s world, and Shen Yun’s revitalization of these ideas was important, he added. These concepts, paired with the beauty of the performance, uplifted him.
“The music was definitely transcendent. That, combined with the art and the fine movements of the dancers, elevated your soul to another level—a higher level,” he said.
Michael Johnson, a psychologist, felt it an unexpected and fulfilling experience.
“It’s so profoundly elegant that it almost brings tears to your eyes. I would recommend this to anybody,” he said. “There’s a whole other dimension with the Chinese.”
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
For ticketing information in Texas, please visit www.shenyun.com/tickets.
Below are upcoming Shen Yun performances in Texas cities:
