SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Gives Hope in Times of Difficulty, Says Theatregoer

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Shen Yun Gives Hope in Times of Difficulty, Says Theatregoer
Paula Wan attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Eventim Apollo, in London on April 15, 2023. Chloe Hsao/The Epoch Times)

LONDON, U.K.—Paula Wan, a retired hairdresser, traveled from Leicestershire to London to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Eventim Apollo on April 15.

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” said Ms. Wan. “I love everything, you know, from the costumes, and I appreciate the effort that’s gone into it for all the dance … [It was] a combination of enjoying the art and [the] knowledge about the Chinese culture. It’s almost like you lose yourself just for a little bit of time and just enjoy watching it.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Now with eight equally sized companies touring the world simultaneously, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and to give its audiences a glimpse of pre-communist China.

“I’ve been wanting to come and watch Shen Yun for about two years,” said Ms. Wan. “I love Chinese history and culture.”

Although Ms. Wan has lived in the UK since she was a child, her mother and brother are still in Hong Kong. Ms. Wan praised Shen Yun’s mission, and expressed her concerns about the lack of freedom of speech in China.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Ms. Wan said of Shen Yun’s mission. “I think it’s very brave because we all need to know suffering. For many traditions, many nationalities and … China, we’re still suffering.”

“I’m very glad I don’t have a young family in Hong Kong at the moment because of the [lack of] freedom of speech,” Ms. Wan added.

Shen Yun’s program includes story-based dances, some of which are set in modern-day China and depicts the Chinese regime’s persecution of followers of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
Ms. Wan said that she had known about Falun Dafa prior to seeing the performance, and had seen news about Falun Dafa practitioners campaigning for freedom of speech.

“There’s somebody who has a strong moral belief, to better the world and to make society better, and there are people out there trying to suppress this kind of belief,” said Ms. Wan.

During the performance, the audience learns that Shen Yun cannot perform in China. Ms. Wan said that she would love for Shen Yun to perform in China, and that she would love to watch the performance there.

“I think the Chinese people would love this,” she said. “We all want the truth, don’t we? We all want to practice gratitude and we’re here to look after each other, to make everybody much better.”

Ms. Wan said that she also enjoyed the spiritual elements of Shen Yun’s performance, which come from the spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism that make up the foundation of traditional Chinese culture.

“I think it’s fantastic,” said Ms. Wan. “I’m watching and I thought … it’s like losing yourself in a fairy tale. For times when we have a little bit of difficulty, things like this give us hope and we can just enjoy something that gives us a different dimension.”

“It is fantastic how they wrote and put this together.”

Reporting by Chloe Hsiao and Wandi Zhu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.

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