The whole family thought it was not only enjoyable but also very educational.

“It was beautiful. The costumes were fantastic,” exclaimed Mr. Van der Molen.

“I was surprised at some of the things I learned, [such as] elements of the culture and the oppression and struggles that people are going through [right now.] I wasn’t aware of that.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was established in 2006 by a group of leading Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.

For thousands of years, Chinese people were very spiritual and believed that their culture was a gift from the heavens. Yet under the communist regime’s violent rule and it spread of atheism, China’s 5,000 years of traditional culture were forced to the brink of extinction.

“As Americans, we have only so much information. We’re only taught so much in schools. So, I think it’s a really brave and necessary thing to provide our country with the honest truth of how things are in China,” she expressed.

“We are lovers of the arts. It’s phenomenal to see this live performance—to see how ancient China is coming alive in the United States. It’s very sad that they [don’t have] the opportunity [to perform] in their homeland.”

“I thought it was pretty cool. It was definitely surprising—I had never seen such a long-sleeved shirt in my life!” he said.

Set to original musical compositions, Shen Yun uses classical Chinese, folk, and ethnic dances to tell tales from ancient times to the modern day.

As a mother of two, Mrs. Van der Molen said Shen Yun is something that “all ages can explore and have the opportunity to learn.” The show inspired her to do more research. She is excited to see what the future has in store.

“It’ll be exciting to see the 2024 [performance] because every year the program changes,” Mrs. Van der Molen said.

“It’ll be fun to see what comes. I can definitely say there are some questions that I have coming from it. It was great throughout the entire performance to feel like ‘we’ll have to learn more and ask questions.’”

“We very much enjoyed the show.”