Shen Yun a Reminder of a Phenomenal Culture, Says British MP
LONDON—Sir George Iain Duncan Smith, Member of Parliament, grew up learning about the arts and going to the ballet often with his ballerina mother, and his family going back three generations lived and worked in China, so it was with great anticipation that he attended Shen Yun Performing Arts to experience 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
“It’s fascinating to watch,” said Sir Duncan Smith.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company and has a mission to show China before communism.
“[It’s] relevant because it’s a good reminder to people of the kind of phenomenal ancient culture of China, and it is phenomenal,” said Sir Duncan Smith. “You talk of 5,000 years—I think that is something which is worth people learning a little bit about.”
He noted that Shen Yun, in addition to the historical stories and legends, showed a piece depicting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its persecution of people of faith. He said he knew much about this topic, as he’s opposed the CCP in his work and knows well their track record of human rights abuses. He was happy to see Shen Yun take on this topic as well.
“It’s difficult to get that message across, but it’s growing—lots of people realize just the difficulties people [under the CCP] face. I hope they’ll take that home with them,” he said.
“I’m a believer in freedom of speech and freedom of association. And I hope that one day China will revisit those things in the way that we have them over here.”
“It must take years of dedication and training to achieve the level—of balance and of performance that they put in here. And they do it all with a smile on their face,” he said. “I hope [they] have many, many performances.”
Reporting by NTD.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
