New York-based Classical Chinese dance group Shen Yun Performing Arts performed in Spain on March 17. Several local politicians attended the show. Here’s how they described the experience.
Alicia Verónica Rubio Calle, a representative for the Assembly of Madrid, said, “I found it very beautiful, very spectacular, very colorful, and very surprising, especially for Westerners. Frankly, it’s very nice.”
“Spectacular. The show is spectacular from all points of view: from the point of view of the dance, the choreography, the costumes, the music, of what inspires you as well,” said Alberto Asarta Cuevas, a representative of the Congress of Deputies of Spain. “[The MCs] also explained to us that there are eight companies around the world. To get eight companies with this level of dancers has a lot of merit. I really enjoyed it.”
Javier Pérez Gallardo, a representative of the Assembly of Madrid, said, “It’s a beautiful show. We, from VOX [political party], want to congratulate the whole team that has made this possible, not only for how beautiful it is, but also for the deep content that it has. And this fight for freedom, this fight for traditions is very important. I know it’s very difficult for this company, it’s been an odyssey, and we want to give you all our support.”
“A marvel, honestly, an absolute marvel. A colorful representation and a vindication of the Chinese tradition, truly impressive and astonishing, in all clarity. I want to say that the message is very clear in terms of what the tradition itself represents, the value that the Chinese have about consideration, about the tradition itself. I’m loving it in substance and in form,” said Fernando Paz Cristóbal, the Host of El Toro TV.
Shen Yun Performing Arts was established in 2006. It has grown from one to eight individual touring companies, which travel the globe simultaneously. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture after it was almost destroyed when the communist regime took power in China in 1949.
“We are for keeping the traditions because that is the fruit of years and years and years of our ancestors, and today we are what we are because of our past—not because of our future, which we don’t know how it will play out. So, we have to keep the traditions,” said Mr. Cuevas.
Mr. Gallardo said that “in the end, it shows how all human beings, regardless of what culture we come from, we all have a longing for the Divine. It’s something common to the whole human race and we all have that transcendence, don’t we? That search for the Divine, that search for transcendence that we have and share both in Chinese and in Western culture.”
“I think that this is a very profound revelation of that ultimate spiritual sense of Chinese culture. I find it tremendously interesting. Also, considering that I know a little bit of recent Chinese history, one of the objectives on the part of the communist regime has been to destroy what they called the four olds, to destroy precisely the traditional Chinese culture,” said Mr. Cristóbal.
Besides Classical Chinese dance pieces, Shen Yun also features a full symphony orchestra, as well as vocal performances.
Mr. Cristóbal said that “the tenor was spectacular. Seen from a Western point of view, it attracts so much more attention [than our tenors]. And in addition, the content of what the tenor sang is very worthy of being taken into account. These are things that are not often seen in the West.”
“The songs all carry a message. It tells us that everything is in [the hands of] the Creator and that this does not come from us. We haven’t discovered anything new, and we came from Him, and we have to go back to Him,” said Mr. Cuevas.
“In the end our hope is in God, in our Creator, isn’t it? And how He can lead us to that freedom. It was a song of war, dare I say, of praying for lost freedom, for these 5,000-year-old traditions that are being lost in the hands of the current Chinese communist regime. And well, how through beauty, through art, through music, through singing, at the end of the day we would be able to reclaim it. It’s a very nice thing,” said Mr. Gallardo.
“Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance—I think that’s the way to go. That’s the way to go so that we can all be living in peace and harmony, which is what this world needs right now. Which by the way [the world] is very messed up, very messed up,” said Mr. Cuevas. “If those three words—Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance—were carried by all of us in our minds, I think the world would be a much better place.”
“Anything that involves seeing beautiful things, seeing spiritual things, well, there is no doubt that it’s beneficial for us,” said Alicia Verónica Rubio Calle, a representative of the Assembly of Madrid.
Mr. Gallardo said, “Well, spectacular. Indeed, when they say [Shen Yun] is one of the best out there, I believe it, because there are very few shows of this level, of this quality. Not only the music, the dances, but everything.”
“I think it’s sensational. It’s not just my opinion, it’s everybody’s opinion. We are truly overwhelmed. It’s a top-notch performance, really,” said Mr. Cristóbal.
NTD News, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
