Shen Yun arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for two performances at the Cheyenne Civic Center. The first night saw a full house on Feb. 1.
“The colors. First of all, it was so vivid and bright. And then the performances, the professional atmosphere, just wonderful,” said Howard Zabel, owner of Balloon & Floral Family.
“I just connected to a deeper part of myself and seen … just the beautiful representation of a spirit of virtue,” said Michael Gaeta, president of Gaeta Institute for Wholistic Health Education. “And kind of a wholesome spirit of goodness in all of the little vignettes. It was just a beautiful, beautiful thing, very moving.”
Gaeta is an acupuncturist, nutritionist, and herbalist. He studied with an acupuncture teacher who trained in China, before the Cultural Revolution. Gaeta thought the performance is an embodiment of some of the traditional values and was deeply moved.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive an ancient culture that was nearly lost under communist rule in China.
“To see it revived in this way and promoted the way it is, is just an amazing thing. I think it’s a very noble project that … really revives a sense of hope for humanity when you see this kind of expression,” said Jim McGuire, a physician.
“Something like this, which is really rooted in something very ancient,” Gaeta said. “And bringing it into the modern times, I think, reminds people of something in them, which maybe has been dormant, of their own virtue, of their own goodness, of their own higher transcendent values, when they see that represented. It has an opportunity to awaken that in themselves, and then perhaps, you know, plan to see that they can bring forth that virtue in their own lives, having seen it represented and in such a beautiful way.”
Much of traditional Chinese culture is inspired by the divine. People harmonized with heaven, earth, and humankind. Shen Yun aims to showcase that on stage.
“This conveys, I think, the heart of the Chinese people. It’s like people all over the world, that they love these kinds of things that the common humanity that’s there,” McGuire said.
“When you see the divine spirit embodied through people in their own unique way, … it has a very healing influence,” Gaeta said. “There’s a call here, to come to that place in myself, and bring that forth in my presence, and then whatever I’m doing, that presence, that divine reality, can manifest.”
Shen Yun will perform in Ohio and Texas next.
NTD News, Cheyenne, Wyoming
