Springfield Audiences Touched By Shen Yun: ‘It Really Does Grab You’

NTD Newsroom
Shen Yun
Shen Yun Performing Arts graced the stage at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts in Springfield, Missouri, on Feb. 11, captivating the audience through classical Chinese dance, music, and storytelling.

“Vibrant is best said ... I just never seen something like this before,” said Jeremy Erickson, a company president. “It really kind of grabs you. The certain dances and the stories that they're telling. It really does grab you.”

“The acrobatics were just amazing, the way they got around. And then also the backdrop was phenomenal. I love the screen where they acted like when they jumped into it and then became part of the movie in the background. So it's very interesting, very unique,” said Shane Wilgus, a business owner. “I think very elegant, even the scenes where they were supposed to even depict violence, it was just very elegant.”

Shen Yun, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, is based in New York and cannot currently perform in China. Their mission is to show the world traditional Chinese culture from before communism. Throughout the performance, Shen Yun reveals the brutal persecution of faith, carried out by the Chinese Communist Party.

“The struggle to be able to practice the faith, that they're being told from outside forces that they can't, that they can't practice what they believe is right, and to be tortured for that,” said Mr. Erickson.

“I think it's very important. We come from a country of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and I think that's very important in any culture,” added Mr. Wilgus. “I think they've done well, I think it's very interesting. I like to see more. I think it's wonderful that they're sharing it. It's something that I think that the world needs to see. There's a lot of history there, and a lot that in the West we don't get to see that, unless we leave and go. So bringing it here and having us have a chance to see it firsthand is amazing.”

Mr. Erickson said that the “perfection of everybody, of the dancing, the singing, all that good stuff. That was just super amazing. I think they're doing a great job of it.”

Shen Yun will be performing at The Plaza Theatre in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 15 and 16.
NTD News, Springfield, Missouri

NTD is a media sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts, covering audience reactions since 2006.