SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is Very Commendable in Its Effort to Revive Traditional Culture, Says Attorney

Feb 01, 2025

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Attorney Ivan Petrzelka and his wife, Wilma, were researching performances to attend when they came across Shen Yun Performing Arts. On Jan. 31, they thoroughly enjoyed this new experience at the SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center.

“We enjoyed it very much. It was definitely worth it and we’ll probably come next year or the following year as well because it’s going to be a new show again,” Mr. Petrzelka said.

“I like the concept, the new concept. It’s different [from] traditional ballet. We like the combination of the light side of it—a little bit of a comedy, a little bit of humor—and the very serious underlying message against the oppression and persecution that is still going on in some parts of the world, unfortunately.”

The New York-based Shen Yun was founded by elite Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.

For 5,000 years, China’s civilization flourished under the shared belief that the divine will bless those who uphold traditional moral values. Tragically, within just a few decades of the communist party’s violent takeover, these beliefs were erased and replaced with atheism.

The mission of Shen Yun artists is to return to the world’s stage—the glory and beauty of China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture.

Mrs. Petrzelka, too, enjoyed the performance.

“I like it very much. I want to see more. I want to see more,” she said happily. “I liked mostly the dancing … the colors are really nice, the dresses, beautiful.”

She will for sure be bringing her friends to future Shen Yun performances.

In Mr. Petrzelka’s opinion, the history and the storytelling within the Shen Yun is “the important part” because “we need to go back to our roots.”

“We need to remember where we came from. We always need to preserve our culture, whatever that culture may be, and whether other people agree with it or disagree with it—it doesn’t matter; it is our culture, and we need to preserve that,” he added.

Reflecting on Shen Yun’s mission to bring back the values and spirituality of traditional China, Mr. Petrzelka thought it’s “very commendable that there is a group that really takes it [to] heart and makes the concerted effort to spread the word and to bring the culture to focus.”

“It’s very easy to forget something that has been destroyed or has been subjected to oppression, but it’s important to bring it up and to preserve that,” he said.

“I can relate to it somehow because I grew up in a communist country, which used to be Czechoslovakia. So, I can very much relate to what is going on in China … it’s somewhat close to my heart.”

For its 2025 touring season, Shen Yun’s eight equally-sized companies will be performing in over 200 cities across five continents. Met with wide acclaim since its establishment in 2006, the company can be expected to return each year with a brand-new set of choreography and musical compositions.

Reporting by Nan Su 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.