FAIRFAX, Va.—Virginia State Senator J. Chapman Petersen has always been interested in Asian cultures. And on the eve of the Lunar New Year, he was able to celebrate a revival of traditional Chinese culture with his wife and youngest daughter attending Shen Yun Performing Arts at the George Mason University Center for the Arts on Jan. 21.
“I think a lot of people see China as a negative, you know, with communism, and they see the restrictions on freedom, and they see all the restrictions with COVID-19 and the restrictions on Falun Gong. And so they have a negative portrayal of China. But the Chinese people are so creative, they’re dynamic, and they’ve come all over the world. They’ve come to America and had such an influence on our culture, that I think Shen Yun is an ability to speak, tell the Chinese story, outside of communism—tell the Chinese story about Chinese people,” said Mr. Petersen….