SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun, ‘It’s Just Breathtaking,’ Says Company Director

Jan 03, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO—Years ago, company director and former French diplomat Romain Serman spotted a Shen Yun advertisement while he was on the subway in Paris. This year, he purchased tickets as a Christmas and birthday gift for his wife, Laura.

On January 2, the couple attended the company’s evening performance at the War Memorial Opera House and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“It is amazing. I have never seen it, so this is the first time,” Mrs. Serman said. “The control of their bodies, the grace, and the absolute discipline it takes to accomplish this—It’s just breathtaking.”

Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. The New York-based artists’ mission is to revive China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture that had been destroyed by decades of communist rule.

Presenting a brand-new set of dance pieces, musical compositions, and solo performances each year, Shen Yun is sharing with the world the glory of China before communism.

Mrs. Serman especially enjoyed the piece, where the dancers’ long sleeves billowed and flowed like the gentle movement of water on stage. According to the company’s website, these sleeves were a part of ancient Chinese feminine attire representing humility and grace.

“The heavenly dance with the long sleeves. Oh, it was beautiful,” she exclaimed. “It’s really incredible. We’ve seen it on the media, but when you see it in real [life,] it’s just different. It’s really breathtaking.”

Mr. Serman, too, thought the dancers were “super impressive.”

Their movements “are really subtle. I really do like it, it’s well executed. It’s fantastic,” he said. “So impressive and original.”

Moreover, the couple loved how the performers used dance to convey historical stories and traditional values.

Neither of them knows much about Chinese culture, so they’re doubly thankful to Shen Yun’s bilingual hosts, who give short introductions before the curtain opens for each program.

“I’m grateful we have an English translator who explains [the program.] It helps well because we’re not familiar with the folklore, and you [appreciate the performance] differently when you understand what you’re looking at,” Mrs. Serman reflected.

“I thought that was really good. [Shen Yun] is very well imagined with a lot of compassion for someone who doesn’t know the culture. Very good.”

For Mr. Serman, every program was so good that he couldn’t choose a favorite. He just loved how everything “was so integrated.”

“The new technology and the screenplay, and the mix between that and the stage—It’s really well done. Impressive.”

According to its website, Shen Yun’s innovative digital technology creates seamless interaction between the backdrop projection and the performers on stage. “By extending the stage to infinite realms,” this patented 3D invention brings to the audience “storytelling without limits.”

Moved by the artists’ mission to revive traditional culture, Mrs. Serman said she will be bringing home with her the message that “it’s really important to know who you are.”

“The history and the stories of our elders are a part of us. I think it’s good that we revive it and that we remember who we are and where we came from. If you don’t, it breaks your soul.”

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.