SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is ‘A Great Experience,’ Says Retired Company VP

Apr 02, 2025

4/2/2025Updated: 4/2/2025

PORTLAND, Maine—Retired company vice president Carl Schroeder gifted his wife, Julie, tickets to the Shen Yun Performing Arts for the company’s opening show at the Merrill Auditorium on April 1. The evening turned out to be everything the couple had hoped for and more.

Shen Yun is “very unique. I’m so glad I’m here. … I feel very fortunate, and we have great seats,” Mrs. Schroeder said during intermission. “I think it’s beautiful. The costumes are gorgeous, the dancing is amazing, the music is wonderful. It’s a beautiful evening.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company dedicated to reviving China’s rich culture nearly lost under decades of communist rule. Its performances feature a series of short dances highlighting various regions of China, as well as solo musical pieces.

Mrs. Schroeder loved the live orchestra and its original compositions that accompanied the dances, describing them as “beautiful, wonderful, and lovely.”

Shen Yun’s orchestra features a classic Western ensemble as the foundation while highlighting traditional Chinese instruments like the pipa, an ancient Chinese lute, and the erhu, a two-stringed instrument. It is the first in the world to permanently combine ancient Chinese and Western instruments.

Mr. Schroeder, too, thought the performance was excellent.

“We really enjoyed it so far. … It’s gorgeous. It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s a great experience to see another culture perform so beautifully in front of us,” he expressed.

He especially enjoyed the 3D animated backdrop that seamlessly collaborated with the dancers on stage to bring storytelling to the next level.

“It’s really very clever. It’s very interesting the way they go from being on stage to animation and then back and forth. It’s very good,” he said. “The combination of the fantasy and the live is incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that, it seems so real.”

However, due to the artists’ focus on reviving China’s 5,000 years of divine-inspired culture and presenting the truth of events in present-day China, Shen Yun is currently banned by the Chinese Communist Party.

Mrs. Schroeder lamented the loss. “I think it’s so sad. It’s terrible. Terrible. We should see more of this and it should be allowed,” she said.

The spiritual element “came through very clearly, and I love the spiritual part and the references to the higher beings. Very spiritual. It’s so important because we all need to realize that there’s a higher being and respect that.”

Reflecting on the dance piece raising awareness for the human rights issues still ongoing in China, Mr. Schroeder said everyone should learn about this because “it’s important to understand that parts of the world do not have the freedoms that we are able to enjoy here.”

Shen Yun is “a wonderful experience,” he added. “It’s good for everyone to see a different culture and to understand that there still are a lot of people that are very spiritual even though they’re oppressed.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma 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.