United States: DC's Business Professionals Profoundly Moved by Shen Yun Performing Arts: "Outstanding!"

Mr. Ye and his wife, both attorneys at a large law firm, were among the enthusiastic audience members at the Saturday afternoon performance of the New York based Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, DC.

Both were delighted by how a performance of just two hours could present the 5,000 years of China's history so well, portraying the characteristics of different ethnic groups and bringing China's ethnic flavors to an American audience.

The couple appreciated how the show conveyed ancient China's traditional values. "The show expresses Buddhist principles, truth, compassion, beauty, tolerance, they are all very good. There is also Lady of the Moon and the Monkey King. Classical Chinese literature and Chinese history, also Tibetan dance and Yi dance were also part of it. Very good!"

They enjoyed having the Emcees introduce the backgrounds to the various performances. Mr. Ye liked their sense of humour and thought it was helpful for both Chinese and Americans in the audience.

Mr. Ye and his wife appreciated the way that the music was blended, feeling that it appealed to the western audience, having a rhythm that was light and fast-paced, and well-matched, which made it easy for a western audience to receive.

Mrs. Ye pointed out that under the pressure of the current economic depression, in a society where everyone pursues money, transmitting Buddhist beliefs and purifying people's thoughts is a very good thing. "The crime rate is rising in both China and America. It's very good to promote truth, compassion and forbearance more," she said.

She added that she would let all of her friends know about the show so they could come see it. "The programmes are outstanding, not just in the artistic aspect but also in the mental and spiritual aspect," she concluded.

Businessman Moved By Shen Yun Performances :"It Was Quite Wonderful!"

Joining the highly appreciative audience on Saturday at the Kennedy Center was realtor, Mr. Harry Hasbun. "It was quite wonderful! This show, there was a lot of passion in it. You could tell the performers had their heart in it. You could sense it.

"I enjoyed every bit of it. I enjoyed the dancers. I think my favourite was the fan dance, it was beautiful. I like the tenors, I liked the whole thing from beginning to end. The drummers, the way you had excellent continuity throughout the performance. You moved from one type of dance, you told the story. I really appreciated it. It's good!"

Mr. Hasbun was greatly moved by the deeper meanings of the performances. "What touched my heart in the performance - I would say, the message of peace and freedom came through pretty good. You know, and I got that. And the passion of the artists in communicating it through dance and song was evident throughout."

Mr. Hasbun elaborated further, "The culture you speak of [here] speaks from the inside of us every day. So when you talk about something that's 5,000 years old, I've travelled around the world and I've seen other cultures, and truth transcends any culture. It simply is the truth, and the dancers and singers did a beautiful job of communicating it. And I understood it probably from just being, you know, a person. You know, you see these truths, so, I would say nothing prevented me from understanding it. I got it!"

Reflecting over the performances, Mr. Hasbun said he was greatly touched. "The persecution - I will remember that for a long time. Just because it's a struggle of righting wrong, you know, ego. I also like compassion, because it's never too late to forgive, and maybe through compassion great things happen. Through truth, great things happen. I think these dancers, they stop thinking when they dance, so they dance and perform, and oftentimes, there are beautiful things to be seen every day. These dances were communicating that beautifully. So, those are things I'll remember."

Mr. Hasbun concluded, "It was really well done, from beginning to end. You could tell that all of the performers had their heart in it. It was quite wonderful."