SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Magical and Imaginative Explosion of Color, Says Business Owner

Jan 25, 2025

EUGENE, Ore.—Business owners Paula and George Johnson had learned about Shen Yun Performing Arts through word of mouth and couldn’t be happier with the recommendation. On Jan. 25, the couple attended a performance at the Hult Center for Shen Yun’s opening night performance in Eugene, Oregon, and shared what they thought of the experience.

“Oh, love it. I’ve been wanting to come for years, and we finally got to come, and it’s an explosion of color. It’s magical and very imaginative,” said Mrs. Johnson.

“The dance, of course, is impeccable, but all the color ... it just makes you smile; every time you turn, there’s something going on. So it’s fantastic,” she said. “I love it.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance, reviving 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through the arts. The artists’ mission is to revive and show audiences China before communism and the beauty of that divinely inspired culture.

Mrs. Johnson said the spirituality of the traditional Chinese culture came through in the art, and that it “tugs at my heart.”

Mr. Johnson found it noteworthy that Shen Yun could not perform in China and that the performance touched on the oppression of the Chinese communist regime on the Chinese people, in particular, destroying traditional culture and in religious persecution. But the performance is an uplifting one, the couple added.

“I think hope is what I get from it,” Mrs. Johnson said.

Mr. Johnson agreed, finding “hope” the most apt description of what Shen Yun portrayed.

“It gives people hope,” he said.

Audience members Cynthia and Larry Bulling also found Shen Yun’s mission to revive a once nearly-lost culture despite all odds an uplifting experience.

“It’s so divine and so gracefully portrayed while telling a story of the tradition [5,000] years before communism, and it’s just amazing that I got to learn vividly the story through their dancing,“ said Mrs. Bulling, adding that she could stay for hours more to watch more of Shen Yun. ”It was really perfect.”

“It’s very uplifting. Like sometimes people like maybe us, we’re not perfect right? But it just gives you that kind of thought where you try to pause and think about how you can improve your life,” she said. “So that’s the impact it brought to me.”

Mr. Bulling was just as impressed as Mrs. Bulling with the talent.

“Oh, it’s extremely—I’m so amazed. I can think of how many hours and years these performers have practiced, learned their skills [and] perfected their dance movements. It’s very impressive,” he said.

Mrs. Bulling added that learning about how Shen Yun could not perform in China, she felt fortunate to be able to witness Shen Yun, and Mr. Bulling said he wanted to encourage the artists to continue.

“Uplift the world, keep these cultures going,” he said.

Reporting by Lily Yu, Frank Zhang, and Catherine Yang.

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