Shen Yun came to Lakeland, Florida, bringing two performances to the Youkey Theatre on March 14 and 15. Audience members said they were speechless after emerging from the theater.
“Absolutely amazing. There are no words to describe it,” said Aleksander Courtney, who is a piano soloist and the owner of Aleksander World Travel.
“It was emotional, it was moving, spiritual actually,” said physician Daniel Irons.
“It was absolutely fantastic. The performance was just incredible. It’s something that everybody’s got to see at least once in their life,” said Gary Parrish, who is a district operational manager at Canteen.
“It’s beautiful. I loved it,” said attorney Justin Fahringer. “The most visually stunning was when they were able to keep the clouds there with all of the dancers, that was the best part for me.”
Theatergoers said they were impressed by Shen Yun’s artists and the high level of classical Chinese dance they present.
“Just the choreography was just incredible. And I just can’t imagine the amount of hours that go into putting a performance like this together,” Mr. Parrish said.
“The agility of these young people, I’m so jealous. The acrobatics, sort of a combination of classical ballet, ancient Chinese culture with acrobatics, a live orchestra, it’s always nice,” Mr. Courtney said.
“The concentration and how they put so much into it, they are the dance, they have a lot of … it comes from the soul. So it’s very, very passionate,” Dr. Irons said.
As a physician, Dr. Irons pointed out how Shen Yun portrays the organ harvesting issue happening in today’s China.
“The exposure of the organ harvesting, I thought it was because of being a physician, that was touching. I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect that truth coming through. And I think it’s important that we get that out and people understand that,” Dr. Irons said.
He added that organ harvesting needs to be stopped: “There are innocent people being taken and harvested and that is evil, that needs to be stopped immediately. If we could all get back to God that stuff would stop.”
One of the scenes showcased the persecution of Falun Dafa in China under the communist regime. Falun Dafa is an ancient meditation system, based on the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance.
“It’s heartbreaking and at the same time, empowering because you have something that starts in the 90s. But in the short time you have 100 million followers, you know it works. And the response to it, that fear has been put in the minds of the people want to control them,” Dr. Irons said. He is interested in learning the practice and got the books.
Many also thanked Shen Yun for performing there.
“Anybody who enjoys good music, good dancing, good storytelling should see this,” Mr. Fahringer said.
“It’s so all inspiring and so inspirational. And I just can’t thank you enough for the time and the effort that you put into this. To put on a terrific performance for all of us. I just can’t thank you enough,” Mr. Parrish said.
“I can’t thank them enough. I want to go to New York and meet them all. They’re incredible, truly, truly amazing. Such talented young people,” Mr. Courtney said.
“It was a great performance. It was wonderful. They did a great job and like I said the greatest endorsement to say I will be back,” Dr. Irons said.
Shen Yun is touring around the world with eight troops simultaneously until May.
NTD News, Lakeland, Florida
