SALT LAKE CITY—Barbara Olsen, ballet teacher and owner of a ballet school in Sandy, Utah, was impressed by Shen Yun Performing Arts at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater on March 14, 2026.
Her first time seeing Shen Yun, Mrs. Olsen was gifted a ticket for her birthday by her son-in-law.
“It just takes my breath away,” she said. “Everything is just magnificent; the technique is outstanding.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun presents story-based dances depicting heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales spanning 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.
Mrs. Olsen was impressed with the tumbling and acrobatics that are a part of the classical Chinese dance system.
With its flips and gentle elegance, classical Chinese dance is one of the most athletic and expressive art forms in the world. According to the company’s website, Shen Yun has preserved the true aesthetics of this classical dance system—the way it has been passed down from antiquity—and presents this authentic culture in its purest form.
Mrs. Olsen was also wowed by the company’s patented method of integrating a 3D animated backdrop with the stage performance. It allows the performers to travel back and forth between the stage and the background projection with remarkable ease.
“The special effects … when they go in and out of the scenery … is just amazing,” she said. “Everything is unbelievable.”
‘Reverence for the Chinese People’
Sarah Voisin-Canfield, soprano and former vocal teacher, and her husband Richard Canfield, commercial loan officer, also saw Shen Yun for the first time at the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater on March 14, 2026.
“I love this show. … It made me have a reverence for the Chinese people and their ancestry,” Mrs. Canfield said. “I just got a very, very sweet feeling from it all.”
“I was so happy that these dancers have a place here in the U.S. to express themselves,” she added.
Since 2006, Shen Yun has performed at top theatres worldwide with a mission to revive China’s traditional culture. The company says its performances demonstrate “China before communism.” Hence, Shen Yun is banned from performing in China.
Mr. Canfield also respected the performer’s mission to revive traditional culture and take a stance against the oppression from the Chinese Communist Party.
“I appreciated seeing that they were able to express themselves and their desire to have freedom … and choose and flourish in their own identity,” he said.
“I also enjoyed the culture, the stories, the messages that all have to do with our lives as well,” he added. “We can relate to each other’s cultures … and learn from them and enjoy them.”
China was once known as “The Land of the Divine,” and Shen Yun presents this culture by drawing upon the Middle Kingdom’s Buddhist and Daoist philosophies. According to the company’s website, the heroes in the story-based dances embody the most exalted virtues of Chinese civilization and convey morals still relevant to the modern day.
“There are things that are very important and have great meaning that surpasses all cultural lines and boundaries,” Mr. Canfield said. “What we value … how we find meaning in life, it’s all about humanity, and we’re all part of that family.”
“There’s a divinity in every one of us, no matter who we are, what station in life we are in; we have to remember we are all very special and have much to offer,” Mrs. Canfield added.
One of Shen Yun’s unique features is its orchestra. It’s the first in the world to permanently combine classical Western and Chinese instruments within a Western symphony orchestra. Shen Yun also boasts bel canto singers.
As a trained singer with a degree in music, Mrs. Canfield appreciated Shen Yun’s talented virtuoso sopranist.
“She sang with great feeling, and it helped me to feel the music and the meaning of the music,” she said. “I loved it.”
In regard to the orchestra, Mr. Canfield expressed his admiration for what he called a perfect performance.
“They’re very talented, I know they have worked hard to be at this level, and they’re without error,” he said. “They are very, very good at what they are doing.”
Mrs. Canfield said Shen Yun presents the highest standards of beauty by using “every form of art to express this beautiful message.”
“It’s an expression of something that’s hard to say in words, but more in music and in dance and it brings out all these meanings and the feeling and connection that it couldn’t be done with just words alone,” Mr. Canfield added.
