SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shows Something ‘You Don’t Often Get to See,’ Says Managing Director

Apr 06, 2025

4/6/2025Updated: 4/6/2025

NEW YORK CITY—Neil Kearns appreciated experiencing a world that otherwise might not have been available but for Shen Yun Performing Arts.

“I think just the sheer talent is amazing and it’s, you know, not something that you would normally see. So seeing the whole cultural element of the Chinese culture and seeing it in dance and music is just pretty remarkable,” said Mr. Kearns, managing director of a bank, who saw Shen Yun at Lincoln Center on April 6.

“I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” he said. “You don’t often get to see something with Chinese culture, particularly dance and music. That’s not something that you normally have access to. So this is a very, very unique show to sort of see the background, see the tradition, see the history. It’s a great experience.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance company. Through music and dance, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.

In recent years, the company has come to sum it up as “China before communism.”

Communist China is what comes to mind for many when they think of China, and “you have a tendency of sort of thinking about the negative and then you don’t really think deeper into 5,000 years of tradition, right? And you see it on stage and it’s spectacular,” Mr. Kearns said.

He felt it unfortunate Shen Yun could not perform in China, and hoped it might.

“I mean, this is Chinese history, right? And it’s almost like, well, how can you not practice this in China? It’s your history. It’s your tradition. Something that should be honored and revered. And yet, no, you can’t do it there. You can only show it outside the country. That’s really quite sad,” he said.

He felt Shen Yun was an educational experience that might pique someone’s interest to learn even more about the culture afterwards.

Traditional Chinese culture is a divinely inspired culture, and that spirituality stood out as something that contrasted with communist China for Mr. Kearns.

“That’s also quite unique and refreshing because again, when you think about China, you don’t really think so much about religion, right?” he said. “And yet here you see that so much of this beautiful dance and art is being inspired by the divine.

“It’s a nice story. It’s a nice message,” he said. “I think it’s actually quite beautiful that it’s a lot of spirituality, and people are being inspired to perform, you know, for their divine belief. It’s almost like we’re praising the heavens in this form of art and dance.”

The dancers were incredible, Mr. Kearns added, remarking on their technique and ability.

“How precise the movements are, everyone’s working in uniform and symmetry, like it’s really, really beautiful, and just the athleticism is remarkable. And the flexibility, the way they’re able to move their limbs, legs, bodies,” he said. “The men and the women, it’s really, really quite remarkable.”

Reporting by Frank Liang 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.