SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Health Supervisor Says Shen Yun Helps Make This World a Better Place

Feb 10, 2024

RICHMOND, Ky.—Dan Radford, senior health supervisor at Tyson Foods, returned to see Shen Yun Performing Arts for a second time at the EKU Center for the Arts on Feb. 10.

“It was very heavenly,” he said. “The Chinese culture is really very endearing.”

“The performers have a lot of energy, and you can feel that coming through,” he added.

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Since 2006, Shen Yun has performed at top theaters worldwide with a mission to revive China’s 5,000-year-old traditional culture. Drawing upon ancient China’s Buddhist and Daoist philosophies, the production portrays story-based pieces that tell tales from ancient times to the modern day.

Mr. Radford saw Shen Yun almost 10 years ago and enjoyed the depicted values and humility of ancient Chinese culture, something he said that modern society is lacking worldwide.

“[There’s] a little more caring for each other and more aware[ness] of your surroundings than American culture,” he said.

However, one of the pieces portrayed the modern-day persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China, which Mr. Radford described as “heartbreaking.”

Falun Dafa, a meditation discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999. After the CCP launched a persecution campaign against the spiritual practice, adherents have since been subjected to unprecedented imprisonment, torture, and abuse.

Mr. Radford hopes that Shen Yun’s mission can be “picked up by a lot of the people over here in this country” and that we all can unite “to help make this world a better place.”

Jonathan Scott Scholl and his wife, Dawn, enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the EKU Center for the Arts on Feb. 10, 2024. (Charlie Lu/The Epoch Times) — Jonathan Scott Scholl and his wife, Dawn, enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the EKU Center for the Arts on Feb. 10, 2024. Charlie Lu/The Epoch Times

Jonathan Scott Scholl, deputy commandant of an Army Reserve military academy, and his wife, Dawn, came to see Shen Yun from Fort Knox, about a two-hour drive away.

“I absolutely love it—it’s so beautiful,” said Mrs. Scholl. She said the performance pulled on her heartstrings, and it was so powerful it made her smile and cry.

“The dance, the colors, the outfits are just beautiful,” she added.

Mrs. Scholl was also amazed at how expressive classical Chinese dance is and how fluidly the company was able to express themselves in song, dance, and music.

According to the company’s website, classical Chinese dance involves a dance-acting element where coordinating facial expressions with physical movements results in an amplified form of expression. With its flips and gentle elegance, classical Chinese dance is one of the most athletic and expressive art forms.

Shen Yun also boasts virtuoso vocalists who sing Chinese lyrics using the bel canto style and a one-of-a-kind orchestra that blends traditional Chinese instruments into a classical Western orchestra.

Having worked for the Army for 40 years and been a soldier himself for 20 years, Mr. Scholl said he appreciated the history as well as how Shen Yun presented “the struggles that communism can present.”

“I personally enjoy the history that’s being presented through the performance, through the dance, and through the choreography,” he said, “and I think it’s a great educational way to show folks what’s going on in the world today.”

Mr. Scholl was also amazed by the company’s patented method of integrating a 3D animated backdrop with the stage performance. It allows the performers to remarkably travel back and forth between the stage and the background projection.

“The interaction of the 3-dimensional digital screen just brings it all to life and makes it even bigger than it already is,” he said. “It’s very captivating for your audience, and we’ve really enjoyed it.”

Reporting by NTD, Charlie Lu, and Jennifer Schneider.

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