Actress at Shen Yun: ‘I’m so Excited to Be Here and Have This Experience’
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Alix Agar (L) and Lana Kinnear (R) enjoyed Shen Yun's matinee at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 18, 2026. Michael Ren/The Epoch Times
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—Actress Lana Kinnear and Alix Agar, a professional dancer turned therapist, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts’ final show at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 18. The two friends were mesmerized by the beauty of the matinee.
“It’s brilliant. The colors are beautiful, the dancing and the messaging, just learning a lot about it. It’s more than I could imagine,” Ms. Kinnear said.
“I’ve been watching [the dancers] and their movements. They’re so graceful, and it’s just lovely, and I’m so excited to be here and have this experience.”
Endowed with 5,000 years of history, China was once known as the “Land of the Divine.” For millennia, its people believed that by keeping their hearts pure and adhering to strict moral standards, they would be blessed by the divine.
Indeed, for 5,000 years, the country prospered. However, after the communist takeover and its spread of atheism, all this traditional culture was systematically destroyed. Today, Shen Yun’s mission is to bring back the beauty and goodness of pre-communist China.
Ms. Kinnear appreciated the artists’ depiction of heaven and their commitment to sharing traditional Chinese culture and values with the world.
“I feel like I’ve been learning a lot about China before communism. It’s really interesting, and when I go home, I’m going to actually look up more about it,” she shared.
“I thought [Shen Yun’s] messages were really brilliant, and I think that everybody should come and see it once so that they can learn more.”
Ms. Agar also loved the performance. “It’s beyond my expectations, for sure,” she said happily. “I love the colors, I love the dancing. I was a professional dancer, so I was very excited to see the dancing. The men, the flips; the women, the extensions—their beautiful, pointed feet—the choreography is incredible.”
Shen Yun artists are masters of classical Chinese dance, an ancient and highly expressive art form dating back thousands of years. Unlike the modern, military-influenced styles often seen in China today, Shen Yun preserves and performs this tradition in its most authentic form, as it was originally passed down through generations.
“I could tell they have a lot of training. I was thinking, ‘Oh, I wonder where they got trained?’ and then they told us that they were trained in New York, which I thought was very interesting. They must train for years. Beautiful, professional, on point dancers.”
Reflecting on the company’s storyline dance that raises awareness for the ongoing human rights issue in present-day China, Ms. Agar said she believes “the impact of the show would be phenomenal.”
“I think it would have a profound impact on people that may know about what’s going on in China, that may know about communism, or that may have no idea,” she expressed.
“To come and see the show, it’s educational, it’s beautiful, and you come away learning a lot. I think everybody’s got to see it at least once in their lifetime. It’s beautiful, it’s magical, it’s exciting. Buy your tickets.”
