SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is ‘Very Uplifting and Makes You Want to Be a Better Person,’ Says Company Owner

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Shen Yun Is ‘Very Uplifting and Makes You Want to Be a Better Person,’ Says Company Owner
Laura Iliff (R) and her daughter Lauren attended Shen Yun's evening show at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo on March 25, 2023. Jana Li/The Epoch Times

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.—The last time Laura Iliff, the owner of a construction company, and her daughter Lauren attended Shen Yun Performing Arts was before the pandemic. They loved that experience.

This year, when they saw that Shen Yun is at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo, the duo jumped at the chance to see it again.

“We loved it. The artistry, the history, the elegance—you’re all over the place—from Mongolia to the palace to the Great Wall of China,” Ms. Iliff said.

“You get to see so much of the culture from both a geographic and a historical perspective. It’s so well done.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. The artists’ mission is to bring back China’s 5,000 years of divinely-inspired culture that had been destroyed by decades of communist rule.
Prior to the regime’s spread of atheism, the teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism were indelible parts of Chinese life. Shen Yun’s goal is to share with everyone the beauty of China before communism.
Ms. Iliff loved that all of Shen Yun’s dances were accompanied by a live orchestra.

“The live music, that full orchestra, was such a treat. We used to have that a lot in the 70s and even the 80s, but now to hear a live orchestra is almost unheard of,” she added. “It was an extra blessing to get to hear all that live music in addition to the dancing.”

According to its website, Shen Yun’s orchestra is the first in the world to permanently combine classical Chinese and Western instruments.

Using classical Western orchestration as the foundation, Shen Yun’s original compositions highlight traditional Chinese instruments such as the two-stringed erhu and the pipa—an ancient Chinese lute.
Ms. Iliff said though she has seen a lot of performances over the years, Shen Yun is her favorite because it “combined so many different elements of art together.”

“[The performance] was very uplifting, and it makes you want to be a better person. It makes me want to have that same blessing for all of humanity.”

She is very impressed by the Shen Yun artists’ hard work, dedication, and courage to present their message to the world.

“To have eight companies traveling the whole world and to be able to share with everyone their beliefs, their art, their gifts, and their perspective—I would like to thank them for that.”

Reporting by Jana Li and Jennifer Tseng.
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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