(Clearwisdom.net) On April 19, 2009, the Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company held its final show for the year in the Netherlands. Ms. Zhang, who moved to the Netherlands from China several years ago, came to the show with friends. She said that she was moved to tears during the show.
Ms. Zhang saw the Shen Yun show last year. This year, she invited her Dutch friend and 90-year-old mother to the show. During the interview, she said to the reporter with tears in her eyes, "The most impressive program was the one about resisting persecution, 'Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution'."
One of her Chinese friends expressed the same feeling, "I knew about the persecution. The show deeply touched me."
Ms. He lives in the Netherlands, and she said, "I like the show very much. I cried during the dance about the persecution. I couldn't help it. [A show like this] is very rare overseas. The show perfectly demonstrated our 5000-year culture through dance. For us overseas Chinese, it is very precious to see such beautiful dances," she said.
"I didn't understand why the group had 'divine' in its name. Now I do. They demonstrated that spirit through their movements. They did a very good job," said Ms. He.
Ms. He saw the show last year, and she enjoyed the historical stories the most, "Those left me with the deepest impression, such as the stories of Yue Fei, Ji Gong and so on. Those are our own stories. We Chinese love our country and culture, including those stories, which are educational."
Ms. He said that the message of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance touched her. "My understanding of the Shen Yun show is that one should be a good person obeying the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The world would be purer if everyone could do that."
Ms. Gao is from Beijing, and she witnessed the Tiananmen Square Massacre. She came to the Netherlands six years ago and is working for a bank. She said that she admires the Shen Yun performers.
"The dances were very beautiful, and they represent our Chinese art." she said. "This show cannot be held in China, where Falun Gong practitioners are still being persecuted. The beautiful dances on the stage and the persecution in China form a sharp contrast."
"I've seen much in China. Before, I blamed everything on the government, but now I am even disappointed at our Chinese people, who are supporting such a government. However, the theme of the second half of the show was hope."
"I think 'hope' is important. If one loses hope, he loses his future. So, I think the song in the show said the right thing--knowing the truth is the hope of being saved. But I think it is not that Chinese people don't know the truth, it is that a lot of Chinese people don't want to know the truth. The Indian people have an old saying--you cannot wake up those who are pretending to be asleep."
Ms. Gao said, "Frankly speaking, I admire those Falun Gong practitioners. To me, a lot of people are hopeless, but Falun Gong practitioners aren't giving up on them. They are still trying to save those people, which makes me respect them."