KNOXVILLE, Tenn.– Television executive Jeff Lee saw Shen Yun on Jan. 7 and said, “It’s beautiful. I mean, the athletics, the athleticism of the dancers is fantastic, and the costumes, look, they’re beautiful and well-thought out. I really enjoyed it.”

Shen Yun, based in New York, was formed in 2006 by a group of talented artists who had a desire to reawaken China’s five millennia history, which was almost destroyed by 60 years of communist rule.

Mr. Lee, who is the general manager at WBIR TV in Knoxville, said he had heard of Shen Yun but had never seen a performance before so decided to come and see what he may have missed. 

“That’s something really different for us. We’ve never experienced anything like this, so we’d like to see what it was all about. It was beautiful. We’re really glad that we came.”

According to the Shen Yun website, every year Shen Yun unveils an entirely new lineup of dances, songs, and musical scores. At the core of Shen Yun’s performance is classical Chinese dance, and China’s folk dance styles. 

“Well, I know they’re telling a story, Mr. Lee said. “We enjoy the history, and where it’s going, telling a story of the country which we are not familiar with. So we found that very interesting.”

In a collection of short pieces, audiences travel from the Himalayas to tropical lake-filled regions; from the legends of the culture’s creation over 5,000 years ago through to the story of Falun Dafa in China today; from the highest heavens down to the dusty plateaus of the Middle Kingdom, the website reads.

“The athleticism of the dancers! I mean the music was beautiful, the costumes were beautiful. Yet, the athleticism of all the performers is fantastic,” Mr. Lee said

Mr. Lee said he couldn’t see the Shen Yun Orchestra from where he was seated. However, he it was there. 

“We could hear them, and we could see the baton come up every now and then, but we knew it was a live orchestra and it was just beautiful for this theater.”

The distinctly Chinese sound of ancient instruments like the erhu and the pipa are bathed in a rich sea of Western strings, percussion, woodwinds, and brass. The result is two great classical music traditions producing one fresh, unexpected sound, according to the Shen Yun website.


Reporting by NTD Television and Raiatea Tahana-Reese

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts. 

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.