SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun ‘Something I Will Never Forget,’ Says NY Theatergoer

Mar 12, 2025

SYRACUSE, N.Y.—After experiencing Shen Yun Performing Arts, Edward Veaudry wanted to sit with his thoughts and feelings about the performance and go through the program book from cover to cover and reflect on what he had just seen.

“It’s a lot to take in. Just reflecting back, I just am so amazed at the costumes, the stories that were told with each performance,” said Mr. Veaudry, a retired respiratory therapist and pastor, after seeing Shen Yun at The Oncenter Crouse Hinds Theater on March 11.

“It’s overwhelming. I can’t think of another word. Magnificent. Magnificent. Just unbelievable. The orchestra was outstanding. I really enjoyed listening to the music that went along with all the performances,” Mr. Veaudry added.

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.

The stories span five millennia, from the creation myth of Chinese civilization to the modern day, with stories of Chinese people who hold onto faith and tradition despite the communist regime’s religious persecution.

Mr. Veaudry described one such story that greatly moved him, where a communist follower, through a series of events, and the kindness of strangers, “turned out to have a spiritual awakening.”

Mr. Veaudry shared that, as a retired pastor, he has a very close relationship with the Creator, and was very moved by Shen Yun’s depiction of the Creator, reminding humanity that we can return to “something greater.”

“How it was presented was beyond words. It was beyond words, especially with the background that they used and the dancers coming out of the clouds, and coming down and then going back up. It was breathtaking,” he said.

He also felt it was a reminder that we are all equal in the eyes of the Creator, and it was a message he hoped many could take in.

“Every one of us. We’re all equal. And, you know, that’s the message that I would like to see everyone have, that we are all equal,” he said. “There is no prejudice needed in this society, regardless of your race, religion, [or] orientation. You’ve created it all the same. We’re all the same.”

“Should be a message to the society. I’m hoping that someday, somewhere along the line, that Shen Yun will be able to do performances so that everyone can see it and not just here at the show,” he added.

Mr. Veaudry said that Shen Yun was “outstanding and something I will never forget.”

“I thought it was on the mark in terms of how they addressed it, how they performed to it. It was great. It’s a lot to take in for the last two hours of the complete show. And it really is a lot to take in,” he said. “And I’m going home, I’m going to read the program a little closer, back to front to back, and then reflect on everything.

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