SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

The World Needs More of Shen Yun’s Company Culture, Says Audience Member

Dec 30, 2024

SAN JOSE—When dance instructor Kristina Tiedemann saw Shen Yun Performing Arts, she could tell just how much the instructors of those dancers had poured into them.

“Oh my gosh. It’s so beautiful. The dancers, they have such a high level of respect and quality, and you can tell that they are being respected as dancers by their teachers because you can’t create that environment unless you have somebody guiding them on these higher levels of consciousness,” said Mrs. Tiedemann, who saw the performance with her husband Norman, a chef, on Dec. 30 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

“Which is so beautiful to see because I feel like we don’t have enough of that in the world right now.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, known for revitalizing the ancient art form, and their dancers are trained at the Fei Tian Academy of the Arts and Fei Tian College.

Formed in 2006, Shen Yun has a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, and they say they practice what they preach. It is a culture deeply spiritual and believed to be divinely inspired, drawing morals and principles from Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Like the people of the culture Shen Yun works to revive, they seek spiritual self-betterment alongside artistic excellence, according to the program.

Ms. Tiedemann said the love Shen Yun artists convey is what’s needed in the world right now.

“The love, the compassion, the kindness, all of that. I have a young daughter, and I want to raise her with that same heart energy,” she said.

“And so as a dancer, I want more dancers, I want companies that are like this, where we can go see for the quality that’s radiating from them and the higher consciousness that they’re bringing just to the planet it feels like at this time,” she said. “It’s the most beautiful expression of human bodies.”

“Everyone should see it,” she added.

Ms. Tiedemann added that this compassion the artists radiated was despite suffering oppression and persecution by the Chinese communist regime, from which Shen Yun’s founders had fled to form the arts group.

“To see the oppression that’s happened in your culture, and the ability to open that up and share that honestly, it takes so much courage from all of those dancers and performers and everybody who’s been a part of this. So I am so grateful that you guys are doing this,” she said.

Norman Tiedemann enjoyed Shen Yun at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 30, 2024. (NTD) — Norman Tiedemann enjoyed Shen Yun at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 30, 2024. NTD

While Ms. Tiedemann was captivated by the dancers, Mr. Tiedemann said that a solo bel canto singer in the program really stuck with him.

“I especially resonated with the vocalist and the song, especially the lyrics,” he said. “It touched me, touched my heart, felt true to me. So a lot of what was expressed through the lyrics.”

Shen Yun’s singers perform original songs in Mandarin language in the authentic bel canto style. The lyrics, written personally by Shen Yun’s artistic director, often contain deep topics such as the meaning of life and humanity.

“Absolutely incredible. I appreciated the feeling that she put forward through her expression and through her art,” he said. “I love to sing, and so I really connected with that.”

“It was very heart-touching. It felt very good,” he said. “I felt a connection. I don’t know where the connection comes from, but I felt a connection to it. So again, this is my first time seeing it, and it just touched me in a deep way.”

Reporting by NTD 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.