Dancers Sees the Beauty and Dedication in Shen Yun

VENICE, Fla.—Performing live means that there are no do-overs, and no pauses, and certainly no room for error. Preparation is key.

“There were forty dancers, fifty musicians and one hundred people on the scene. That’s impressive and it was perfect. Tonight I saw a really professional, world-class performance. They are spectacular,” said Valentino Sevilla, a dancer.

Dance is an expression of the body. It is a language without sound. Shen Yun’s dancers use classical Chinese dance to tell stories from China’s 5,000 years of civilization.

“Body language expresses everything. In more than 70 percent of our interactions between people, body language expresses most of what we are trying to say to each other. I think that dance and performing arts breaks [down] all barriers of language,” said Mr. Sevilla.

He added that he appreciates “all the love that people put into this presentation. I’m thankful and grateful to have the opportunity to be here tonight. I really loved it.”

Shen Yun is based in New York and its dancers are trained in Classical Chinese dance. Many audience members see other dance styles in classical Chinese dance but the truth is, many of the other dance styles find their origins in Classical Chinese dance.

“I understood many movements that we have in modern dance come from Chinese traditional dance. Many movements and many ways to express ourselves, like in the theater and modern dance come from this ancient culture that has more than 5,000 years,” said Mr. Sevilla.

Shen Yun is dedicated to presenting a China before communism.

Mr. Sevilla shared that after some debate, he decided to see the traditional Chinese culture that Shen Yun has to offer.

“I’m an artist. I do theater, so I’m kind of involved on the scene, so I was wondering [whether] to come today to watch and enjoy what’s happening here. It was a big experience for me. I really love what I see, what I hear, what I feel right now. So yes, I love this,” he said.

After communism gained power in China, the communist party did everything it could to remove and erase the essence of Chinese culture. Shen Yun is dedicated to reviving that culture and sharing it with the world.

“So many thousands of years of rich culture that cannot disappear. [We should] do whatever we can to protect to keep it alive,” said Mr. Sevilla.

Reporting by Sally Sun and Maria Han

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.