United States: Local Area Mayor of Ogden, Utah Impressed by Shen Yun: "I love it"

Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company gave its final Ogden, Utah performance at Peery's Egyptian Theater to a full house on March 18th. The show dazzled the audience with its presentation of classical Chinese dance and breathtaking music played live by the Shen Yun International Company Orchestra.

"They're right in synch with each other"

Forrest McCoy came to see the show with his mother, Debra McCoy. Both mother and son work in the technical field. "I loved the colours; it's been great. I enjoyed the cultural experience," said Mr. McCoy.

Agreeing with her son, Ms. McCoy said, "It's beautiful and they're trying to tell a story that needs to be told. I'm amazed at how beautiful and how they're very good dancers ... . They're right in synch with each other, and that's a lot of energy up there on the stage."

Ms. McCoy also said that the costumes in the show are "very detailed" and that the colors are "magnificent."

"You'd have to watch it three or four times in order to see everything"

Mr. and Mrs. Jebpesen were also quite taken by the unique performance they experienced on Thursday night. "The dancing was terrific, the music was terrific; it was different, never seen anything like it," said Mr. Jebpesen, who works in manufacturing.

"The music was wonderful, the staging was wonderful." There were so many things happening on stage, explained Mr. Jebpesen, that, "You'd have to watch it three or four times in order to see everything."

Local Area Mayor Impressed by Shen Yun: "I love it"

Mayor Russ Wall of the City of Taylorsville, Utah was in attendance for the opening night of the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Peery's Egyptian Theater on March 16. This was Mr. Wall's first introduction to classical Chinese dance, and he said, "It's beautiful, I love it. I haven't seen anything like it before - first time."

Mayor Wall said he greatly enjoyed the beauty and energy of Shen Yun, "They've all impressed me; they're all very beautiful and they're very talented. It's a great show." He commended the blend of Chinese and Western instruments in the orchestra and said "they did a very good job" with the orchestration, arranging instruments from East and West together.

Mayor Wall talked about a performance that especially stirred some feelings for him, in reflecting on Nothing Can Block the Divine Path, in which, according to the programme notes, a mother and daughter who practise Falun Dafa are "brutalised for standing by their faith" in contemporary China ruled by the Chinese communist regime.

"It's very sad. It makes me angry to know that that's still happening. It's good to make people aware. I hate any time when people are persecuted for anything."

As the choreography of this piece unfolds, the tragedy does not go unnoticed by the heavens, and as for the ultimate outcome of the scene depicted in Nothing Can Block the Divine Path, where good is rewarded with good, Mayor Wall said, "That was beautiful, I believe that."

Air Force Metrologist: 'Gorgeous music, beautiful'

Both Mr. David Fillerup and Mrs. Fillerup watched the show of Shen Yun Performing Arts on Wednesday, March 17th in Ogden.

Mr. Fillerup works as a metrologist at Hill Air Force Base and is a retired 20-year veteran of the Air Force. Mrs. Fillerup is an elementary school librarian. The couple came to see the show after Mr. Fillerup read about Shen Yun in the paper.

What had been written in the paper intrigued him, but both were even more intrigued by the performances. A dance that particularly moved Mr. Fillerup was Nothing Can Block the Divine Path. It refers to the persecution of a mother and daughter who practise Falun Gong, a Chinese exercise and meditation practice which is persecuted in China.

"I would like to know a little more about it - [the host] said that it's still going on in China, and I would like to know more about that." Mrs. Fillerup related to the themes in the performance, noting that they tied into traditional Chinese beliefs. "So, good people live on," she said.

On the whole, the couple found Shen Yun to be very engaging and beautiful, with rich story content and beautiful choreography.

Sources:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/31682/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/31609/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/31618/