SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun an Amazing Partnership of American Freedom and Traditional Chinese Culture: Texas Theatergoer

Feb 01, 2025

SAN ANTONIO—Victor Gonzalez, a director in sales, had seen Shen Yun Performing Arts last season and loved it so much he returned to share the experience with others who had yet to see it.

His grandmother is from China, and so he had an interest in learning more about authentic Chinese culture, and his family from Mexico had been looking forward to seeing Shen Yun for a long time.

Upon learning that Shen Yun was based in New York and had a mission to revive the traditional Chinese culture that cannot be shown in China today, Mr. Gonzalez thought it “truly amazing, on the partnership that takes place between the American culture and the Chinese people.”

Shen Yun, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, was formed in 2006 by artists from around the world, many of whom had experienced religious persecution by the Chinese communist regime before emigrating elsewhere in search of freedom of expression.

Mr. Gonzalez said what was happening in China was unfortunate, and noted that the audience was able to enjoy the classical Chinese dance production because the artists had put together a school in New York to revive this ancient art form.

“I keep getting impressed every time I come here,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “I think the more we understand about each other’s cultures, the closer we get as people. So I think this is a great opportunity for us to get to learn a little bit more about Chinese culture and traditions.”

In addition to dance, Shen Yun’s programs include solo musical performances, and Mr. Gonzalez said he enjoyed hearing the bel canto virtuosos’ performances.

“It’s powerful when you see what she’s actually singing, and just the voice, how it penetrates all the way across the environment,” he said.

Shaunae Lacombe, who attended the performance with Mr. Gonzalez, said the performance was “absolutely amazing.”

“The dancers are incredible. The history and the story behind it just put the whole big picture together,“ she said. ”I also love how it shows the history of the culture and how they are staying true to their faith through the circumstances.”

Also enjoyed the performance that afternoon were father and daughter Eloy and Eden Urbina, who said that even though Shen Yun depicted the reality of China under the communist regime in one of the story-based dances, they had done it with beauty and hope.

“There can be beautiful aspects to it, even though what’s going on right now, there’s always that type of light, no matter how dark it is,” said Ms. Urbina, a human resources manager. “So being able to see this, it shows that there is hope and light aside from that darkness.”

Ms. Urbina said she had long wanted to see the beauty of a Shen Yun performance and felt connected to the traditional Chinese culture she saw on stage.

Sitting in the audience, she felt “confidence, but in a sense also that euphoria, saying that no matter how high the divide is, we’re always connected in some type of way.”

The father and daughter pair said they wanted to congratulate Shen Yun for what it had accomplished culturally.

“I think they put in a lot of effort and to be able to share the beauty of the culture with people through their dance, through their art, I think it’s a wonderful thing,” said Mr. Urbina.

Reporting by Sally Sun 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.