SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun ‘Moved Me to Tears,’ Says Canadian Theatergoer

Apr 17, 2025

4/17/2025Updated: 4/17/2025

CALGARY, Canada—Val Baim’ov, a salesperson, and Quincey Darling, a business consultant, enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on April 16. Mr. Baim’ov felt very emotional all throughout the evening.

“The music touched me. When they said that music could heal in ancient Chinese medicine ... I decided to focus on the music, and I just let the music flow over me. It moved me, it moved me to tears,” he said.

“Very powerful, very magical. I didn’t really know what to expect [at Shen Yun.] The poster is very beautiful, but it doesn’t capture the full depth of the performance,” he said.

The New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 by elite Chinese artists who had fled persecution by the Communist Party.

Endowed with 5,000 years of history, China was once known as the “Land of the Divine.” For millennia, its people believed that by keeping their hearts pure and adhering to strict moral standards, they would be blessed by the divine.

Indeed, for 5,000 years, the country prospered. However, after the communist takeover and its spread of atheism, all this traditional culture was systematically brought to the verge of destruction. Today, Shen Yun’s mission is to bring back the beauty and goodness of pre-communist China.

Reflecting on his emotions throughout the evening, Mr. Baim’ov said he can see why Shen Yun is currently banned from performing in China.

The communists “don’t want people to be moved that way. They want people to be moved only in the way that they want to be moved. It’s about control,” he said.

The Chinese Communist Party is “hurting people, and it’s also suppressing an expression of the Chinese people. It’s so beautiful that [Shen Yun is] able to do this here and show it to us,” he said.

Mr. Baim’ov believes it’s important for the artists to share traditional Chinese culture with a Western audience because, amid the ongoing human rights struggles in modern-day China, people often forget that China is an ancient civilization rich in depth and wisdom.

“I watched the show, and I think I only got like 20% of what was presented there. I’m definitely going to come again and again and again,” he said. “I don’t think I'll ever fully comprehend the depth of [their] culture and [their] people because China is one of the most ancient countries out there.”

Ms. Darling, too, thought the show was “really, really spectacular.” Shen Yun’s story-based dances put her through a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

“It was all beautiful. ... I laughed, I cried. I laughed some more, I cried again. I laughed so hard that then I started crying—it was a little bit hysterical,” she said.

“I like the tones of the music. They’re very uplifting. The colors are very visually appealing and bright, and the movement—it’s all uplifting,” she said.

Ms. Darling learned from Shen Yun “the importance of continuing to make art.”

“If the whole world goes ugly, at least we have art,” she added.

Last but not least, Ms. Darling said she would like to thank the Shen Yun artists for “doing a great job,” and urged everyone who hasn’t seen the performance yet to “just go see it.”

Reporting by Lily Yu 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.