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Ricky Johnson, (L) Drew Danehart (2nd R) and his sons Travis and Josh attend Shen Yun Performing Arts at Columbus' Ohio Theatre. (Valerie Avore/The Epoch Times)
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Franchise consultant, Drew Danehart, and his sons Travis and Josh found Shen Yun to be an exhilarating production, after attending Friday night’s performance at the Ohio Theatre.
“I thought it was fabulous, fabulous! The dancing was phenomenal. The costuming was wonderful. They loved it. It was wonderful!” said Mr. Danehart.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, began in 2006 with a mission to revive and renew 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.
Mr. Danehart said they decided to attend as both of his boys are learning Chinese. “They were smiling the whole time so it was worth it.”
“It was fantastic! It really was. It was amazing,” said Travis.
“The backdrop and everything was really beautiful and it really tied [Chinese] culture into it. The outfits, the way they danced. That was incredible. It was beautiful!” he added.
According to Shen Yun’s website, classical Chinese dance is one way Chinese culture has been retained. This art was continually organized and refined with it eventually developing into the vast, systematic, and distinctly Chinese dance form that we know today.
Travis said that he’s always been interested in Chinese culture: “Just their spiritualism and the things they do, like the tea ceremony—they were taught to find harmony in themselves. It is a beautiful thing. I just find their culture fascinating.”
Josh was moved by the principles the stories conveyed. “I would say that if you have faith and believe in something and if you hold true to it, it always comes through for you. You always have something to rely on and get strength from. Like the scenes where the practitioners of the Falun Gong … gained enough strength and courage to stand up to those people who were beating them up. I thought that was pretty awesome,” said Josh.
He is referring to the the scene The Dafa Practitioners Magical Encounter. Falun Gong has been persecuted in China for the last 13 years and is one of the stories from modern times that Shen Yun dancers depict.
“I would say it is absolutely amazing, and it is definitely worth the price and everything,” Josh said.
Reporting by Valerie Avore and Maureen Zebian.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun will next perform in Dayton, Ohio on May 1. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.