SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is a Vibrant Performance That Is ‘Well Worth Seeing,’ Says Oxford Theatergoer

Jan 25, 2025

OXFORD, UK—Conroy Stark, a mechanical engineer, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the New Theatre on Jan. 25. Having seen Shen Yun once before many years ago in California, Mr. Stark was seeing Shen Yun once again years later and said he was pleased to find it just as vibrant a performance as he remembered.

“It’s good value,” Mr. Stark said. “We really enjoyed this afternoon ... It really is good. It’s been a long time, but what I do recall is it was very vibrant. It was very good.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its inception, Shen Yun has expanded from one to eight equally sized companies that tour around the world simultaneously, reviving traditional Chinese culture and showcasing the beauty of “China before communism.”

“It’s quite different to traditional European theatre,” Mr. Stark said. “You watch the vibrant colors, the flowing costumes that they wear, it really is nice. So we’re happy that we came this afternoon to see it.”

Mr. Stark enjoyed the music performed by Shen Yun’s live orchestra, which is a unique combination of traditional Chinese and Western instruments.

The erhu, a two-stringed Chinese instrument that has the ability to express a wide range of emotions, left a deep impression on Mr. Stark.

“The music from the orchestra is fantastic,” he said. “The Chinese instrument with only two strings on it—who would have thought you'd get so much sound out of just two strings.”

Besides being entertaining, Mr. Stark found Shen Yun to be an educational performance as well.

“It tells you a little bit about Chinese history ... Obviously, Chinese history is very old. it’s been around a long time and there’s these lovely traditions they bring.”

Mr. Stark said that traditions were important because “a lot of what carries through is ... being in harmony with your fellow man, with peace on earth ... which we see so little of today.”

Mr. Stark said that he would like to see Shen Yun for a third time in the future as it’s a performance that is “well worth seeing” and suited for audience members of any age.

“It’s a vibrant show. It’s a lovely musical. It’s full of energy, full of dance, and it really covers a spectrum for all. It’s not just for adults ... look how many children there are—younger people, older people, everybody in the audience. So it’s a broad spectrum show.”

Reporting by NTD and Wandi Zhu.

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