SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Director of Malaysian NGO Loves Her Chinese Culture as Presented by Shen Yun

Jan 19, 2025

MANCHESTER, UK—Shen Yun Performing Arts presented traditional Chinese culture that pleased the audience at the Palace Theatre on January 19.

Rachel Ho, executive director of the Suriana Welfare Society, attended the performance with her son Jorrel Too, a doctor, and her two grandchildren. Ms. Ho said how much her grandchildren enjoyed Shen Yun. “They were very enthralled by the whole show. Lyla is five, and Lili is six,” she said.

Ms. Ho, who is Chinese-Malaysian, said, “I’m very interested because of the culture.”

Some dances feature stories about Falun Gong and present-day China, which Ms. Ho was familiar with. “Yes, yes. There were many books written about the Falun Gong, so now I’m able to make, to understand why. I’m able to relate to what this whole show is about.”

Ms. Ho said she enjoyed the traditional Chinese culture presented on stage and was very proud of her culture. “We are Chinese. We are Chinese.”

“All these are folklore that we are very familiar with, so I’m able to relate to that,” she said. “My parents are Chinese. My grandfather came from China and my father was educated in China. So we are quite aware of all the folklore and the tradition. We still practice our Chinese tradition back in Malaysia,” said Ms. Ho.

She was visiting her son Jorrell, who said he also enjoyed the dances, especially all the colors.

Ms. Ho said, “This is quite an experience. Quite an experience. My two grandchildren—they love it, and I was influenced by it.”

About the performers, Ms. Ho enthusiastically said. “Oh, the performers. ... All of them, they are so professional and so skillful. They make everything look so easy.”

Company Director Says She Has a ‘Wish for all Chinese to Watch This Show’

Salaya Naqvi attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, UK, on January 19, 2025. (NTD) — Salaya Naqvi attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, UK, on January 19, 2025. NTD

Salya Naqvi, director of her own company, said, “Absolutely mind-blowing. I am amazed. I’ve been wanting to see this show for the past three years. I see it [advertised] online every single time, and this year, I made my husband buy it for me as a birthday present. So I’m super-duper excited. Yes.”

Ms. Naqvi described Shen Yun as, “Very alive. Very Vibrant.”

She said that as she is watching the performance and enjoying the stories, “the stage becomes alive. My daughter, she’s never been to this sort of thing before. Her reaction? She’s clapping. She’s enjoying. She’s understanding the stories as well. Absolutely brilliant—I’m really happy.”

Ms. Naqvi also enjoyed the live orchestra, which accompanies the dance sequences and harmoniously uses both Western and Eastern instruments.

“I don’t know much about music,” Ms. Naqvi said, “but whatever it is, it goes with the dancing. It’s nice. It’s brilliant.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, with a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization before communism, through the arts.

Ms. Naqvi was saddened that Shen Yun is banned in China. “it is history. It’s culture. It’s part of what China was. So it’s a bit of a shame that people can’t see what they have, where they’ve come from, you know? It is a shame, and I would wish for all Chinese to watch this show just to get to know their own culture and get to know the history where they come from.

Ms. Naqvi was asked if she would see Shen Yun again. “I will definitely come back again. Definitely, I'll watch it again.”

In recommending to friends, she would say to them: “It’s a once in a lifetime experience you have to, once in your life, you have to come and watch something like this. Yes, it’s definitely some masterpiece.”

Reporting by Mary Man, NTD, and Yvonne Marcotte.

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