Artist Feels 'The Soul Is Involved' in Shen Yun

Shen Yun wrapped up four performances in Reno, Nevada. Audience members say it's uplifting and empowering.

“Outrageous, beautiful. The agility of the people on stage … it's beyond belief. It's extraordinary,” said Byng Hunt, member of the Mono County Board of Supervisors.

“The dance with the fans, just absolutely stunning to see the coordination of everyone together,” said Christina Buckalew, account executive at Kerry.

“I look at the dedication that these young people have to develop this talent that they show every time they walk on a stage, the choreography, whoever has designed the costuming, the backdrops—it’s absolutely stunning, just stunning. Nothing like it, nothing like it anywhere,” said Lane Baxter, an artist and former opera singer.

Each performance consists of about 20 pieces, including from different legends, regions, or dynasties. Themes can range from the elegant Tang court ladies to battlefield generals.

“It’s enlightening. I think it enriches me, and it’s almost like it lifts me up,” said Steven Cates, CTO of ARTeSYN Biosolutions. “It’s very empowering.”

“It's timeless, it’s traditional, and it’s not going to go away,” said John Cotter, a lawyer. “It’s not like something on television, a television show that people are going to say two years from now, 'Oh, I remember that,' and no one cares, it doesn’t have any value to it. But this has value to it.”

Shen Yun’s mission is to revive five millennia of traditional Chinese culture, which was nearly lost under China’s current communist government.

“I think it's a great mission, I think it needs to come out. Now, people don't realize the history involved there for so many millennia. And how great the Chinese culture was, should be again,” said Hunt.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand what history is and how things were evolved and developed,” said Cates. “With the world that surrounds us now, history gets kind of squished and erased.”

“It's a showing of one’s soul, I feel that the soul is involved in what they do,” said Baxter. “I felt that every single one of those young people on that stage gave more than just themselves; they gave everything that they had for whatever reason in their background or what they’re trying to achieve. And it’s stunning to watch.”

NTD News, Reno, Nevada