LODZ, Poland—Shen Yun Performing Arts graced again the stage of The Grand Theatre, an opera house in Lodz, Poland, this year from June 14 to June 16. And this time again the audience welcomed Shen Yun with warm ovation.

Among them was Witold Gerlicz who came with his seven-year-old granddaughter, Victoria, to see Shen Yun perform on June 16. Mr. Gerlicz holds a Ph. D. mechanical engineering, is also an architecture historian by profession and currently acts as the President of the Chamber of Commerce in Lodz.

The reason why Mr. Gerlicz decided to attend the Shen Yun performance with his granddaughter was that he wanted to learn more about China.

“I only knew China from the economical aspect, however, here we were presented great Chinese culture; the point is, like the artists' said, it was about the true Chinese culture,” Mr. Gerlicz said.

Mr. Gerlicz did not expect to see this kind of performance. “I expected something completely different, I expected more about contemporary China than the great Chinese culture. We here in Poland also went through it: there was a true Polish culture in the West and during the certain period of time there was the Soviet culture here. Here we were really shown the true—I think—Chinese culture.”

Mr. Gerlicz referred in his comment to the situation in Poland under communist rule. At that time all media publications and shows were censored by the governmental institution established for this purpose. As a result, Polish artists who could not publish or present their works due to the censorship were compelled to live and continue their artistic activity in exile, mostly in Western Europe.

Mr. Gerlicz found a common ground between East and West through music: “It was a very beautiful fusion of the orchestra with Chinese instruments and instruments that belong to our European culture. It seems to be a very interesting thing and it is very timely in the days of globalization; we all unite and we can speak with one voice.”

The Shen Yun Performing Arts Orchestra brings together two of the world’s greatest classical music traditions, Chinese and Western, in a masterful fusion. With Western instruments as its base, the orchestra brings out Chinese musical flair through a variety of Chinese instruments.

Mr Gerlicz summarized the Shen Yun performance: “It was a presentation of the true China.”

'Ladies wearing jewelry that jingled beautifully'

Similar opinion about Shen Yun was expressed by Piotr Sobieraj, manager of the Information Technology testing department at the Academy of Humanities and Economics in Lodz: “The performance shows clips from the traditional Chinese culture, history and legends.”

Mr. Sobieraj invited his friend Dorota Jarosinska to join him to see the Shen Yun performance also on June 16.

Ms. Jarosinska is an owner of jeweler’s store, Versus, in Lodz . Here is what she liked about the Shen Yun performance: “I am happy, because I expected many very intense and very saturated colors. The dance that I liked—I cannot give its name at the moment—but it was the one danced by the ladies wearing jewelry that jingled beautifully, it was very graceful dance." [In a Miao Village].

With reporting by Hanna Szmytko.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

Original article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/37579/