SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Romanian Theatergoers Say Shen Yun Would Be Good for the People of China

Jan 11, 2025

LONDON—The audience at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at the Eventim Apollo on Jan. 11 gave many wonderful comments on the performance. Dameal Chairs, a construction manager, said: “It was so nice and good. I’ve enjoyed every second.”

Life coach Catalina Ciovanu said, “It’s very entertaining.”

Shen Yun Performing Arts is a New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company. Shen Yun is the first performing arts company to widely introduce classical Chinese dance to the West. This expressive and athletic art form has a history of thousands of years.

Ms. Ciovanu said: “I think it’s quite nicely oriented towards the ancient China. That’s why I came to see [Shen Yun], to be honest.”

Ms. Ciovanu said the moral values presented in the stories were common to other cultures and should be brought into modern society. She especially noted the two hosts who introduced the dances, with one speaking in English and the other speaking in Mandarin.

“It’s quite authentic, having someone speaking Chinese along with English. I think it gives a really authentic note to the show,” she said.

She said she enjoyed the dance of the water lilies. “I think it’s really nice, the way the sleeves fly around and everything. It’s absolutely entertaining.”

Ms. Ciovanu was intrigued with how Shen Yun’s spiritual message is that it’s heavenly inspired. “I think they capture it really well. Because, I'll be reading the book, ‘Journey to the West,’ and I think they capture really well the moment there. I think it was quite the same as the book, to be honest. It’s really good,” she said.

The communist regime has banned Shen Yun in China. Mr. Chairs is aware of communism in his country. “I have no words for this. I think about this communism,” he said. “We can find similarities because we are coming from Romania.”

Ms. Ciovanu said: “I wonder. If the regime is the same as it was in our country. ... To be honest, communism is really strict, and I don’t think you can present [a culture] that was before communists—same in our country—they wouldn’t let us keep our religion and beliefs. [They] were really strict about it. And I think it’s really well captured here.”

Ms. Ciovanu offered encouragement: “It is important for the show to go to China, to have the Chinese people see the genuine traditional culture.”

Mr. Chairs said: “I think they know. They just don’t want to show that. Everyone knows about the past.”

“It will be good for Chinese people to see this. It will show them that Chinese people still have a connection with what was before. It’s good. It’s good. Yes. It will be good for the Chinese people.”

Both said they would heartily recommend Shen Yun’s performance to others and Mr. Chairs said “we will come back.”

Reporting by 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.