SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is ‘Very Peaceful and Calm’ ‘It’s Beautiful,’ Says Company Director

Feb 16, 2025

CINCINNATI—Senior company director Richard Havens and his wife, Gabriele, a retired flight attendant, first learned about Shen Yun Performing Arts through their subscription to The Epoch Times.

On, Feb. 15, they purchased tickets for an evening performance at the Aronoff Center for the Arts.

“I love it. I’ve been wanting to come here for three years, and this is my first time here. I just really like the traditional dance, it kind of takes you back to the culture of China before communism,” Mr. Havens exclaimed.

“I think [Shen Yun is] very peaceful, calm. It’s beautiful. I really enjoy watching the show.”

He was deeply amazed by how beautiful and creative Chinese culture was prior to communism.

“You don’t see that nowadays,” he said. “You can’t go back in time, but it’s nice to see this and [get a feel for] what it was like before communism—such a rich culture.”

According to its website, the name ‘Shen Yun” translates directly into “the beauty of divine beings dancing.” Based in New York, the artists have made it their mission to revive, through dance and music, China’s divinely inspired civilization to its pre-communist glory.

The couple especially enjoyed Shen Yun’s story-based dances recounting stories from ancient times to the modern day.

Mr. Havens loved the more spiritual pieces that transcended everyday life and conveyed the power of love through the classic legend of the Chinese Valentine’s Day.

Mrs. Havens, on the other hand, was moved by the present-day dance piece that shed light on the persecution of people of faith by the Chinese communist regime.

“I think the more poignant one for me was the persecution. We need to keep reminding the world what they’re doing here. Reminding people of what’s going on is really important,” she expressed.

“We don’t hear about how spiritual the [traditional Chinese] society was. That’s not something that we learn about over here. This is a reminder that it’s really not different anywhere in the world—all this spirituality, it’s very similar. It’s just suppressed [in China.]”

Though Shen Yun is well-beloved by audiences around the world, it is currently forbidden by the ruling Chinese regime from performing in China due to the company’s commitment to reviving traditional values and raising awareness for the ongoing human rights issues in present-day China.

In fact, many of the company’s founding members had fled to America to escape persecution by the communist party.

For Mrs. Havens, the evening had been a “rollercoaster” of emotions.

“I do like the show. It’s very colorful, very engaging,” she stated. “It’s heavy at times and very lighthearted at other times. I think it represents Chinese culture overall—it’s just like here.”

Reporting by Charlie Lu 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.