SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun an Uplifting, Vibrant, Enthralling Revival of Traditional Culture, Says Business Owner

Dec 27, 2024

HOUSTON—Attending a Shen Yun Performing Arts show is often a festive affair, and especially so in Houston, where performances bridge Christmas and the New Year. For Dick Johnston, it was a joyous family event where he brought his seven grandkids, his son and daughter, and their families.

“It was an experience. I wanted them to see the Chinese culture in its glory and appreciate the fact that it’s in trouble right now. It’s struggling to survive. I wanted them to see that and feel it. And that was part of the story they told,” said Mr. Johnston on Dec. 26 at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts.

New York-based Shen Yun shows a China that cannot be seen in China today—5,000 years of Chinese civilization, or more succinctly, “China before communism.”

Formed by a group of artists who fled religious persecution by the Chinese communist regime, Shen Yun has grown from one to eight companies that now bring authentic Chinese culture to almost 1 million audience members a year.

Mr. Johnston appreciated Shen Yun’s revival of such a legacy, something he works to do himself nowadays, managing the musical legacy of his late brother Daniel Johnston.

Mr. Johnston said he found in the performance that much of traditional culture is universal.

“There’s a lot in Chinese cultural tradition that resonates with Western tradition about good and evil, and evil will eventually fail, and goodness will be rewarded,” he said. “That was good to see.”

Through music and dance, Shen Yun tells stories from five millennia, depicting heroes from Chinese history and legends, divine beings, monkey kings, and even people in the modern day who still hold on to faith and traditional culture despite repression by the Chinese communist regime.

It is a show that is banned in China; its artists are blacklisted by the Chinese Communist Party.

The China Mr. Johnston saw on stage was “vibrant,” he said. “You saw that people haven’t forgot about that stuff behind, and I appreciated that.”

“I loved it. It was enthralling,” he said. He felt inspired and bolstered upon seeing the performance and said it was an experience he would recommend. He said he was left with a message of “uplifting, confidence, and trust in what is right and good.”

Reporting by Sonia Wu 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.