SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shares a ‘Message That People Need to Hear,’ Says Life Coach

Feb 15, 2025

CINCINNATI—Dale and Sharon Kirby saw Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Aronoff Center for the Arts on Feb. 15, and were uplifted by the beauty and message.

“We enjoyed it. It was very theatrical as well as very moving, the message. And it was a good combination of lighthearted fun and a serious message,” said Mr. Kirby, a life coach. “The performance was beautiful and very creative in all of the things; the dancers, the costumes, the cinematography—all of that was beautiful. And so you’ve got two things, you know, the beauty of the performance and the message.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Through music and dance, Shen Yun aims to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, sharing with audiences the beauty of China before communism.

Mr. Kirby said for him, this was a “message of hope.”

“The message of hope and perseverance, even though there’s persecution and discrimination in China, and totalitarianism trying to suppress people; that hope always wins. And I really received that tonight: that hope will win. And faith in that,” Mr. Kirby said.

Although Shen Yun cannot perform in China, where it has been blacklisted by the Chinese communist regime, the performance depicts stories based on true events set in the modern day, showing characters who hold onto faith and tradition despite persecution.

Mr. Kirby said this was done through beauty, and that itself sent a message.

“It’s expressing it in ways of beauty instead of ways of hatred. And it shows how ... much more attractive the beauty is than the hatred that wants to suppress it,” he said.

“I think I was almost emotionally overcome by the last piece,” Mr. Kirby added. “The last part was very moving, just bringing it all together. And it was a good combination, really, of all the themes came together at the end. And it was very moving for me.”

“I just felt the combination of the hope and the joy in the face of trials and the courage that was coming through to stand up for what you believe,” he said.

Mr. Kirby added that he knew that Shen Yun artists were practitioners of Falun Dafa, which is a spiritual discipline that teaches the three principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance. Also known as Falun Gong, the practice has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Kirby said Shen Yun’s performance conveyed a message “in a way that is consistent with the Falun Dafa principles,” namely through beauty and nonviolence.

Mr. Kirby added that these values conveyed in the performance—hope, peace, acceptance, faith—were common values, and needed not only in China.

“They’re common virtues, common values,” he said. “It’s China in the midst of the Communist Party speaking its voice in a way that it needs to be heard everywhere, not just here.”

“It’s the same message that people need to hear,” he added. “And if they would hear then I think the hatred ... would not have a place.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma 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.