Mr. Halls marveled at the women’s dancing, wondering “how they managed those long, long sleeves,” to throw them out and catch them.
“I’m like, ‘Man, you got to not only worry about your feet, you’re worrying about your hands as well.’ That’s amazing,” Mr. Halls, former director of photography at The Fresno Bee, said.
Paul Sampietro, a certified public accountant, called it perfection. “Those guys are great,” he said.
Mental health therapist Darla Griffith said, “The experience was fabulous; the movement, the flow, the story.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun's mission is to revive genuine traditional culture. Various aspects of the performance made Shen Yun a memorable experience for the patrons.
“Some scenes were very exciting, some were a little scary, some were sad,” Maritza Konnaris, owner of Tony's Taverna, said. “It brought up all the emotions.”
“I’d like to know what the timing is when the performers have to stand on that stage and how they know when exactly to do that. I’m just fascinated,” Mr. Halls said.
“I can see why it’s patented and protected,” he remarked.
Mrs. Griffith found the performance “really uplifting.”
“The stories that were told—there was a lot of hope. I loved the whole theme of keeping with tradition,” she said.
Along with story-based dance, myths, and legends, Shen Yun also portrays stories of persecution of faith in today's China, where the company isn’t allowed to perform.
“I think it should be all over the world,” Mrs. Konnaris said of Shen Yun's performances. “I think a lot more people should know about this, and I wish it would come back in their country, in China.”
He said that touched him the most.
“You can sit and you can watch the portrayal of it as art,” Mr. Halls said. “And yet there’s something inside you that says this is something that goes on every day, and in different parts of the world.
“It shouldn’t but it does, and people need to be aware of that,” he said.
