SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Becomes Important Part of Family’s Curriculum

Jan 08, 2025

MODESTO, Calif.—Parents are responsible for raising good, responsible humans. For Melissa Osuna, giving her children the best is foremost on her mind, which is part of what she appreciates about Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Ms. Osuna shared that her children are home-schooled. She believes that being able to choose the curriculum for her kids is important, and Shen Yun has been a great part of it.

“I just like that freedom of being able to teach my kids. They don’t learn stuff like [Shen Yun] in school—and then you can’t go home and have a conversation about why that’s important and what’s going on in other countries because they need to know,” she shared.

Shen Yun uses dance and music to portray the beauty of China’s 5,000 years as well as the atrocities of modern-day China. Ms. Osuna was referring to talking to her kids about the significance of sticking with the truth even amidst adversity.

Ms. Osuna studied ballet for 11 years, and she saw an immense amount of discipline and talent in New York-based Shen Yun.

“It’s a lot of discipline right there—a lot of dedication,” she said.

Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.

“It was a seamless performance—directed, choreographed, [and] written. There weren’t any pieces missing. That’s talent right there. That’s best of the world,” expressed Ms. Osuna.

She understands that flexibility and techniques in dance must be trained from a young age. But she also stated not everyone can succeed, even when they start young.

“I know that they start when they’re really young. Not everybody can go this far for this many years—there’s no way,” said Ms. Osuna.

She recognized that being able to stick with an art and becoming successful at it requires hard work. She saw that Shen Yun’s artists have come a long way.

“I’m proud of you for the hard work and discipline and sticking with it and not giving up your whole life. You’re pretty much a legend at this point, I would say,” said Ms. Osuna.

Not only are Shen Yun’s dancers immensely talented, but Ms. Osuna was also struck by Shen Yun’s soprano, who is trained to sing with the bel canto technique.

“I think the main part of the [text] was talking about like how atheism is deceitful. That’s what stood out to me the most. I really appreciated that they said that,” said Ms. Osuna.

Reporting by Lily Yu and Maria Han.

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