SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

China Experts See ‘Beacon of Hope’ in Shen Yun

Feb 23, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Since its inception in 2006, New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has made waves with its mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization—China before communism.

For that, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has targeted the performing arts company to try to shut down performances since it was formed, as Shen Yun has documented over the years. One of the latest incidents was a false bomb threat sent to the Kennedy Center in the nation’s capital, which Shen Yun and other experts believe is likewise tied to the CCP.

Performances in Washington went on with additional security after the threat proved a hoax, and Rich Fisher, a think tank senior fellow, author, and China expert saw joy and hope in the performance he attended on Feb. 23.

“I felt like I was witnessing the distillation of 5,000 years of Chinese culture,” he said. “It’s a very positive message, a positive message of a China that can live in peace with the world rather than the Chinese Communist Party, which is at war with the world.”

Mr. Fischer was not surprised that the CCP would stoop to sending the theater a bomb threat, citing the military coercion nations in the Indo-Pacific face regularly from the CCP and given that Shen Yun represented a China separate from the CCP.

“In contrast to the Chinese Communist Party, the Shen Yun production represents a positive vision for Chinese culture in the world, a vision in which China is kind and is godly and is looking to create good,“ he said. ”The Chinese Communist Party cannot live with that vision.”

Mr. Fischer praised the artistry of the performance and commended the artists.

“I was fascinated with the artistic production and how this represented so many thousands of years of Chinese history. But I was very grateful to attend and would do so again,” he said. “You’re doing the Lord’s work and please continue. Your art certainly shines to the world and it is a beacon of hope.”

Cleo Paskal, a China expert, was also impressed with the dedication of the artists.

“It’s clearly something that isn’t just a job to them. And it comes true from the stage into, I think, the hearts of many in the audience,” she said.

She felt Shen Yun was a very “valuable incubator for the regeneration” of the traditional Chinese culture that was once nearly destroyed, and thought the efforts could keep the culture “healthy and alive so that when the time is right it can spread back to its homeland.”

Like many in the audience, Ms. Paskal said the spirituality of traditional Chinese culture was a common one. But it’s antithetical to the CCP, she added, explaining the interference Shen Yun faces, and why the culture is being destroyed in communist China.

“All of humanity normally has a spark of faith in them. And it’s been a dedicated effort by the Chinese Communist Party to extinguish that spark,” she said. So you don’t have to have the same flame in your heart, but you can recognize it in others and want it to be able to be safe. So, that’s clearly a component of this, and it’s a very valuable gift to those who feel like their flame is being dipped.”

Writer and defense expert Grant Newsham felt Shen Yun was a glimpse of “China, as it should be.”

“Watching this show, you really got a feeling of just what China’s potential could be,” he said. “The spiritual sense of things can manifest itself in many different ways. But people are thinking [of] humans who deserve and want to be free. And the Chinese Communist Party is trying to do something which is unnatural, which is to imprison and enslave people.”

He said the performance had captivated from the moment the curtains rose, and held one’s attention throughout.

“It’s beautiful. Beautiful. You go in and as soon as the curtain goes up, it’s lovely. When the curtain just opens, it’s a very grand scene, actually, like a heavenly scene. Like the high being called upon other deities to fall into the earth, to bring a new era,” he said.

It felt “expansive. You have a sense of the heavens, the sky, the vastness of it,” he said. “It’s just wonderful. The sound [and] the musicis good. It goes very quickly. The show seems like it’s very fast, which tells you something.”

Reporting by Jenny Jing, Sherry Dong, and Catherine Yang.

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