Shen Yun Receives a Hearty Welcome in the Heart of the Deep South

Feng Xue
By Feng Xue
February 19, 2020Shen Yun
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Big hearts and deep feelings—the American South is known for both. So when Shen Yun Performing Arts came to Mobile, Alabama, on Feb. 11, 2020, attorney and law firm owner Joseph Kulakowski recognized important aspects of the performance that led him to one very important theory about the fate of the heartfelt and profound traditional Chinese culture.

“[Shen Yun] was extraordinary,” he said. “The depth of the story about the Chinese culture, the creation, their faith, their beliefs, their concepts of good and evil. I thought that the underlying theme, that these people of principle and faith were being crushed by the communists … But I have a theory that because of faith, the roots, they will survive.”

Kulakowski attended Shen Yun at the Mobile Civic Center Theater.

New York-based Shen Yun is attempting to bring back China’s 5,000-year-old culture from the brink of extinction, despite the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to wipe it out.

The persecution that spiritual believers face today in China at the hands of the CCP is depicted on stage in Shen Yun in heart-wrenching scenes. But these stories leave people with hope since they depict real-life responses to the persecution that are full of compassion, perseverance, and faith.

Kulakowski loved the artistry in Shen Yun. But he had one main hope for Shen Yun and the Chinese people.

“I thought the story was beautiful. I thought the actors were extraordinary. But what you see with the eye and what you hear, you need to be conscious about the extraordinary musicians that you don’t see that you hear. This music is not being piped in! These are real live artists, making these sounds with these real live artists are so carefully choreographed. It’s beautiful. The colors were extraordinary. I thought it was wonderful, beautiful.”

“And I hope that the message gets through. We see these beautiful people dancing and all these wonderful athletes, but the message is what I hope comes through.”

Surviving and thriving is what Kulakowski hoped would come in the wake of Shen Yun’s efforts to revive traditional Chinese culture.

“This is the bloodstream, this is the chi. This is not something that’s passing by in modern-day,” the criminal defense attorney said in reference to the essence of China’s traditional culture. “This is what is in the veins of the Chinese people. The chi of the Chinese people. No, this will not be suppressed. The message will get through. And the Chinese people will survive. And its culture will survive,” he said.

Kulakowski said he would describe Shen Yun to others using the full range of vim and vigor available to an Alabama courtroom lawyer, and then some.

“The message extraordinaire! I was amazed. I was in awe. The talent is beyond words. I don’t have the vocabulary, I have such limited vocabulary to speak to how beautiful it was. That’s my problem. I don’t have words to describe how wonderful [Shen Yun] is,” Kulakowski said.

NTD News, Mobile, United States

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