“I loved every minute of it, the colors, the dances, all of the stories that were told. It was beautiful. It was wonderful,” said Angela Holmes, senior pastor at Outreach Fellowship Christian Center.
“Music was good. The dance is very energetic. We loved it. I loved it very much. It’s a unique experience,” said Narayan Thirumalai, founder of InfoPro Systems.
“I do a little bit of dance, and I’ve done gymnastics when I was little, so I appreciate how difficult the moves and the dance that they did, and the fact that they were so synchronized is amazing,” said Lorinda Williams, a nursing instructor at Waubonsee Community College.
Ms. Williams stated, “I thought that the creativity of the choreography and how they use the background animation was awesome. I’ve never seen the part where they jump in and are live.”
Ronald Rispoli, admission coordinator of Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education, agreed, saying, “The background, the interaction where the performers jumped into the background became part of the background, and then jumped out of the background, and back into performance. I was blown away by it. It was so amazing to see how they did it so effortlessly.”
Each performance also highlights themes of spirituality and faith, values found at the core of traditional Chinese culture.
“Being a pastor, knowing that God is the Creator of everything, and all of the traditional things that we know are kind of like sometimes, we think they’re old, but those are the things that help us to get to where we are today,” said Ms. Holmes.
“In most of the philosophies and spirituality, we try to connect our inner soul with the divinity. So the theme is very good. It clicked very well, especially, the audience’s energy levels were displaying that kind of passion to seek or connect with the divinity that we could see,” said Mr. Thirumalai.
Audience members said the show left a lasting impression and encouraged others to see it for themselves.
Mr. Rispoli said, “I am not a theater guy, but I was just, [it was] breathtaking. So if you have an opportunity, do not waste it. Go see Shen Yun.”
“I want to say to those who have not seen it, to come and see it. You’ll get a lot of inspiration out of being just alive today. This was something wonderful, very inspiring,” said Ms. Holmes.
