SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun’s Message ‘Relates to Us Today and to Everybody in the World,’ Says Theatergoer

Mar 09, 2025

SPOKANE, Wash.—After attending Shen Yun Performing Arts at the First Interstate Center for the Arts, real estate owner Holly Brown said the experience was breathtaking and deeply meaningful.

Ms. Brown first heard about Shen Yun from her parents, who saw it in Seattle a few years ago. She and her husband had been eager to experience the show for themselves, and when they finally did on the evening of March 8, it did not disappoint.

“We loved it. We learned stuff, I cried. ... My husband and I are very aware of what’s going on in China and the suppression of culture and religion and everything. So, this was an amazing way to tell that story to many people in an artistic way. We really appreciated that,” Ms. Brown said.

“We hope that more and more people learn about what’s going on there but we love the culture that we saw [today.] We learned so much about the culture just through the dance. It was beautiful and we loved it. It was amazing.”

The New York-based Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by elite Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.

For 5,000 years, China’s civilization flourished under the shared belief that the divine will bless those who uphold traditional moral values. Tragically, within just a few decades of the communist party’s violent takeover, these beliefs were erased and replaced with atheism.

The dream of Shen Yun artists is to return to the world’s stage—the glory and beauty of China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture.

Ms. Brown said she is very supportive of this mission because “you need to hold on to your culture, your religion, what makes you ‘you,’ and what makes you a community.”

“You hold on to that because it can be taken away from you at any turn. If you, little by little, let things go pretty soon there’s nothing left. So, that’s my biggest takeaway from [Shen Yun,] is to remember that in our own lives.”

Reflecting on the spiritual aspect of the performance, Ms. Brown said she enjoyed how it was portrayed and thought it was a very necessary element because it is such an important part of traditional culture everywhere.

“It was surprising how magnificent it was. We loved the scenery and the backdrop, and how that interacted with the dancers and everything. That it was very well done,” she said, commenting on the story-dance piece in which the Creator descended to Earth to help people in times of trouble.

“It’s very beautiful and I think it resonates with a lot of people. It was very well depicted. It’s hard to depict that spirituality visually for everyone to see. So, it was wonderful.”

As an avid theatre fan, Ms. Brown has seen many big shows in the past but felt that Shen Yun “is on a different level because of the spirituality of it, and the ancient culture. It relates to us today and to everybody in the world, not just Chinese people, but everyone.”

“I’d love to see more. We will tell people just how much of a connection [Shen Yun] makes,” she said.

“The artists, they are doing so much more than dancing out there and entertaining. They are taking us all on a journey, but it’s such an ancient journey. It’s over thousands of years and their feeling and love for their culture—it comes through with everything they’re doing.”

Reporting by Lily Yu 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.