SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Theater Founder Returns Year After Year to See Shen Yun Performing Arts

Mar 03, 2024

LAS VEGAS—On March 2, Shen Yun Performing Arts opened its penultimate show at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Sitting in the audience was Susan Ackerman, one of the original founders of the theater.

Mrs. Ackerman has made it a tradition to attend Shen Yun’s classical Chinese dance performances year after year. Each year, she introduces new family members to the show. This year, she brought her whole family.

“The first time we came, we came for dancing. I did not understand the history behind it—Chinese persecution against religion, beliefs, and all that,” she said.

“So, this year, I really want to watch it with that in mind and listen to what they’re actually saying. I usually read my news on Epoch Times, and they have so much about the dance and how [the performers] practiced, so I was really involved. It was a good time to come and see it.”

The New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts 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 mission 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.

Ackerman loved the performers’ portrayal of the divine.

Referring to Chinese people’s ongoing struggles for freedom of belief in present-day China and their fight against illegal organ harvesting, Ms. Ackerman said, “It’s hard to understand right away what they’re going through.”

“It really makes me think, ‘How did [modern-day] China get to this point?” she added.

Mrs. Ackerman’s daughter-in-law Kimberly, who is a nurse, also enjoyed the performance.

“I loved it. It’s absolutely gorgeous,” she said. “I just love how they’re incorporating the storylines with the dancing itself. Everything is absolutely beautiful, and it’s just a stunning production.”

Kimberly added that though it’s hard to pinpoint something specifically, she’s “learned a lot.”

“I’m just taking in everything. It’s just amazing. Absolutely beautiful.”

For its 2024 touring season, Shen Yun’s eight equally-sized companies will be performing in over 200 cities across five continents.

Met with wide acclaim since its establishment in 2006, the company can be expected to return each year with a brand-new set of choreography and musical compositions.

Reporting by Linda Jiang 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.