(Clearwisdom.net) On opening night, August 25, 2010, the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts rocked the Kennedy Center's Opera House in Washington, DC.

Among the delighted audience was former American track star, Lacey O'Neal.

"I'm with the US-China People's Friendship Association. We're the DC chapter here, and I came with a group of friends, about six of us," she said.

Ms. O'Neal participated in the 1964 and 1972 Olympic and represented the U.S. against the Soviet Union in 1961.

She said, "It was fantastic. I really enjoyed every moment of it. I'm a dance major, but it was more than just dance to me today, it was spiritual."

She described the well of emotions that surfaced as she watched Shen Yun for the first time. "I mean, I wanted to cry when I saw some of the dances. It was beautiful. I just really enjoyed myself."

The spiritual content of the show really impressed her. "Well, actually, some of the scenes, some of the storytelling [showed spirituality]. But, I just think the whole theme was very spiritual.

I mean, there is no one particular dance that I could point out. It was all in the colors, the movements, the gestures, and the facial expressions.

"I was pretty close to the stage, so I could really see the intensity of the dancers and the form and everything. I was looking at a lot of techniques, but I was also feeling something as well, so I really enjoyed it."

Ms. O'Neal said that she came out of the show knowing more about Chinese culture.

"I learned a lot more than I knew before. I thought I knew a little bit about Chinese culture. I haven't been there, but I eat a lot of Chinese food! The dance brings out a lot more about the culture and the people. I learned a little bit more about it!" she said.

She said that Shen Yun had given her a new insight into the human spirit.

"What I saw was the human spirit. I saw gentleness, I saw kindness and peace, and, you know, I realized that we are all the same people really. And we do have emotions. And I saw a lot of emotional things that the dancers presented."

She talked about the message of human rights that the performers brought to life on stage, saying, "We're all people and we all deserve to be treated well, you know, and when you don't have basic human rights, it's an emotional offense against humanity, so, yes, I understood it, I got the message."

When Ms. she was asked if she would consider coming to the show next year, she replied, "I would come back again, and I'll tell some of my friends that they should come and see it, because it's more than just a dance. I didn't know what to expect, but I think I got more out of it than just being a dance."

She said that she would not give her friends a detailed description of the show because she wanted them to see it without any preconceived notions.

"I wouldn't want to give it away, I would just say, 'Come, have an open mind, and enjoy it.' And then afterwards I would ask them some questions, like, 'How did it make you feel?' That's what I would say."

Isha Williams, Tennis Stars' Sister: "An Incredible Experience!"

Also in the audience was Isha Williams, sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams.

"Beautiful, absolutely beautiful!" she exclaimed after the show.

The ancient heroic stories reenacted through music and dance seemed to touch her most. These are "stories that kind of keep people going through the ages, that keep people enthused, and teaches the next generation and the next generation," said Ms. Williams.

Giving her impressions of the "Nothing Can Block the Divine Path," in which a Falun Gong practitioner dies after being beaten by police for exercising in the park, she said, "The freedom to practice what you want to practice in terms of faith and a belief system--being able to fight for what you feel is honorable and right."

Coming out into the lobby during the intermission, she said she felt as if it were "a moment to exhale."

In the midst of the performance, "you didn't even realize that there was something going on onstage that was so much bigger than the performances themselves. It was something peaceful happening, and something kind of divine.

"It was the feeling you get after being in the room with the dancers as they do what they do, the music, the tenors, the soprano--I mean, literally, the entire show, the production, it was really an incredible experience!"

She said she is taking home some of the inner peace that she felt during the show. "I am very peaceful, I'm very serene."

When asked how she would describe Shen Yun to her friends, she enthusiastically replied, "You have to experience it! There are almost no words to describe it except to say that it was beautiful and it was wonderful, but it's one of those things that you have to experience, to find out how it makes you feel.

"When you leave the theater, you feel good! You have to go and you have to see it.

I hope to be able to see them again here, at the Kennedy Center next year, or in New York or any of the other places that we visit."

She concluded by saying, "The whole thing was really unbelievable!"

Sources:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/41700/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/41665/