SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Brings out the ‘Freedom of the Art’: Philanthropist

Feb 25, 2024

MIAMI—Ela Pruszyńska, a television personality, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, said she felt she had experienced something big in watching Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Speaking to a reporter in the theater, Ms. Pruszyńska could not quite put it into words yet but described it as a profound feeling and something she would be looking into.

“There’s a big message to be learned, I think,” she said at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 24.

Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. It was formed in New York in 2006 by a group of artists united by a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. Since then, the music and dance company has become a global phenomenon.

Traditional Chinese culture was believed by its people to be divinely inspired, a stark contrast to the culture of China today under communist rule.

Being of Polish descent, Ms. Pruszyńska was well aware of the effects of communism, and was interested to learn that China had such a different culture prior to communism.

“I felt like it really brought out freedom of the arts, freedom of speech, and freedom of dance,” she said.

“The artistic director did a fabulous job,” she said, praising the use of color, the choreography, stage design, and aesthetics. “It was artistic—so it meshed the arts, culture, and a message.”

It was a message rooted in the reality of the world today, she explained, pointing to one of the story-based dances set in modern-day China. The story addresses the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice that teaches truth, compassion, and forbearance.

“That was very powerful,” Ms. Pruszyńska said.

With reporting by Kailiang Jia.

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