SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun ‘Cleanses Your Soul,’ Says Dallas Theatergoer

Jan 22, 2024

DALLAS—Pamela Nunneley, a registered nurse, enjoyed Shen Yun’s matinee at the Music Hall at Fair Park on Jan. 21.

This was her second time attending Shen Yun Performing Arts, and she said it was a 10 out of 10 experience both times.

“This is one of the most amazing things. It’s an amazing show, and there is nothing that they could do to make it better. You feel so excited inside, and it just takes your breath—it’s beautiful,” she said enthusiastically.

“You just feel good coming out [the performance.] It’s almost like an experience that you would have with meditation—it cleanses your soul.”

For five millenniums, China filled its history with breathtaking legends and rich traditions rooted in spirituality. However, following the 1949 communist takeover, traditional Chinese culture was destroyed and replaced with Communist Party culture.

The spread of atheism quickly eradicated people’s belief in the divine, and the cherished teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism disappeared overnight.

Since Shen Yun’s establishment in 2006, these New York-based artists have made it their mission to revive this lost culture and return to the world, through dance and music, the magnificence of China’s pre-communist era.

“What impressed me the most is that [classical Chinese dance] has gone on for generations and generations. They still enjoy doing it, and we’re reaping the benefits. It’s amazing. I wish that we had more things in America [like this]. China tops everybody,” Ms. Nunneley said.

She will be bringing home with her the meaning of traditional Chinese culture.

“They’re much closer [to their] culture than Americans. We take it for granted every day, but when you see something like [Shen Yun]—everyone in that culture enjoys it and experiences it. I’m very thankful that they’re sharing it with us. Absolutely.”

Len Barringer, who is an investor and company owner, accompanied Ms. Nunneley for the matinee.

He chimed in that Shen Yun is very educational because the legends “were told in the original way that you would have told the stories 5,000 years ago.”

“Most Americans aren’t exposed to that format—the way it was presented to us. So, I found that very unusual and very enlightening,” he said.

In the show, “there were incredible colors, incredible dancers, choreography, the whole storyline—everything is top-notch.”

Mr. Barringer particularly enjoyed the spiritual element of Shen Yun’s story-based dances.

“I was impressed with the [spiritual] overview and how it tied in with the various storylines where there was a deity involved. I wasn’t always expecting that coming from a show, and I thought that was delightful. It’s amazing,” he expressed.

“It’s sad knowing that this story would be unable to be shown in China—that it would be stifled and stopped. They need it there probably more than anywhere else.”

Reporting by Sonia Wu and Jennifer Tseng.

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