SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shows the World What Truly Matters, Says Missouri Theatergoer

Mar 13, 2025

3/13/2025Updated: 3/13/2025

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Writer Josh Gordon was mesmerized by Shen Yun Performing Arts’ artistry and profound message when he attended an evening show at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. He and his partner had long wanted to see Shen Yun and were thrilled to finally experience it on March 12.

“It was a wonderful show. Very beautiful. We were commenting on the combination of colors, music, spectacle, [and] choreography. So much talent. Beautiful talent,” he said.

“The performers were wonderful. … I know the performers worked so hard. They perform and train year-round. We only see just one night; they’ve trained for the whole year to do the show. It’s a lot of work.”

According to its website, the name ‘Shen Yun” translates directly into “the beauty of divine beings dancing.” Based in New York, the artists have made it their mission to revive, through dance and music, China’s divinely inspired civilization to its pre-communist glory.

Though the company is well-beloved by audiences around the world, it is currently forbidden by the ruling Chinese regime from performing in China. In fact, many of Shen Yun’s founding members had fled to America to escape persecution by the communist party.

Mr. Gordon is deeply moved by the artists’ commitment to bringing back China’s 5,000 years of traditional culture whilst raising awareness for the ongoing human rights issues in present-day China.

“I think it’s very important that people in modern times remember that the present world we live in, where violence and oppression seem to be the strongest forces in the world, it has not always been that way,” he explained.

“That there have been times, and there can be again, where beauty, culture, sharing, fairness, freedom, and love are the forces that predominate in the world. In order for a world to be that way, we have to love and value the things that Shen Yun brings to us.”

Reflecting on the artists’ story-based dance depicting the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal persecution of Falun Dafa—an ancient meditation practice whose followers adhere to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance—Mr. Gordon said we need to always remember that we “will prevail over those who seek to use violence and oppression to control freedom, faith, love, and beauty.”

“If we appreciate [Shen Yun] for what it truly is, then we will have a world where the people who bring violence and oppression will have no chance. So, it’s very important that we remember and embrace the beauty in the moments like these because those are the things that transcend time, culture, [and] place. … So I value what Shen Yun is doing.”

Mr. Gordon’s message for the artists is “Keep doing what you’re doing and believe in what you’re doing.”

“What [they’re] doing is not even what takes place on that stage—It’s that every person here [through] witnessing and appreciating the joy and the love. … We can remember this idea that violence and oppression has no part in the modern world. Love, beauty, sharing, honesty, all those things are what truly matter. [The artists] are actually helping to reinforce that,” he added.

“When you look in the papers, when you listen to the news, you think that the forces that are against the good and the truth—you think that those are so much more powerful. What [Shen Yun] doing is actually more powerful. … I hope that they know that. I hope they believe it every day that they do all their training and all of the work that they put in. They’re actually helping to build a better world.”

Reporting by Yeawen Hung 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.