SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun ‘Very Pure and Real,’ Says Seattle Theatergoer

Apr 03, 2025

4/3/2025Updated: 4/3/2025

SEATTLE—Kristin Ball felt something sweet and something divine in Shen Yun Performing Arts, discovering a top-of-the-line performance on April 3 after seeing it with her mother at the Marion Oliver McCaw Hall.

“It is beautifully choreographed. Costumes are lovely. The music is great. The dancing was superb. The storyline was interesting, and I think captivating,” said Ms. Ball, who works in sales.

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance company. Through music and dance, Shen Yun’s mission is to show audiences the beauty of China before communism.

The beautiful movement is what catches one’s eye first, but Ms. Ball explained how the performance delivered more than something visually spectacular.

“What was wonderful were not just the costumes, but the costumes accented the movement of each performer, and their synchronicity was wonderful. The choreography was great and there was a bit of playfulness in the show, which was also very sweet,” she said.

“What got my heart was the spiritual message. The message that we’re all working to get to the divine, and it referenced working many lifetimes to get there and I thought that was beautiful,” Ms. Ball said.

“We are all on a journey, and who knows how many lifetimes it takes, but we all go to the same place eventually,” she said, adding that the performance helped one focus on the divine and one’s main purpose, rather than the little obstacles that can distract. “It was very pure and real.”

Traditional Chinese culture is divinely inspired culture, and that was evident in the performance for Ms. Ball, who said she enjoyed the heavenly scenes and found moving the moments where the dancers would seemingly jump right up into the blue sky.

“The music married the dancing and the costumes as well, but the dancing and the music were in harmony, and it was very uplifting. Again, sometimes playful, very sweet and somewhat divine,” she said.

Ms. Ball said it was very special that Shen Yun was able to revive this culture and share it with the world.

“I think it’s very, very sweet and special when one can bring their culture and show it to others in such a beautiful way, and to be uplifting, inspiring, and to just very quietly give the message but very demonstratively show it. So I think it was wonderful,” she said.

Reporting by Sunny Chen 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.