DALLAS—Jason Alexander, a business development advisor, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts on Jan. 22 at the Eisemann Center.
“I’ve just been drawn in, kind of captured by it. I realized for the first 10, 15 minutes, I had a smile on my face the entire time because I was just enraptured by it,” Mr. Alexander shared.
Shen Yun, based in New York, is on a mission to present “China before communism,” and revive people’s connection with 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and culture.
Mr. Alexander shared that Shen Yun would give the audience “A better understanding, [and] also more awareness of what is going on in China right now. Hopefully, some people who barely know or pay attention to what it’s like in China now, maybe things like this will help them be more aware of it than they were yesterday.”
Jason Alexander at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at the Eisemann Center on Jan. 22, 2026. Lily Yu/The Epoch Times
Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.
“All their hard work and their blood, sweat, and tears that they’ve put in really comes through. …. Their training is very good, but then also the storytelling is great, too,” Mr. Alexander said.
Although Shen Yun is sharing the beauty of Chinese culture with the world, Shen Yun is unable to perform in China.
“Communism is what it is in China, but the traditions—because of people here in this group, they keep the history and traditions alive despite the best efforts of communists in China,” Mr. Alexander said.
Founded in 2006, Shen Yun was established by elite artists who fled persecution by the Chinese Communist Party. “I was even thinking about the people there now in China, how they can’t express themselves like [they can] here. That you have to come here to be able to express your love of history and the tradition of your home country,” Mr. Alexander said.
However, seeing Shen Yun, Mr. Alexander felt hopeful that China will have freedom again in the future.
“I was very touched, very moved. I hope that one day the people in China will be able to express themselves like the folks here,” he said.
He added that Shen Yun is ”not just for people of Chinese descent, but for everyone. It’s a message that transcends boundaries.”
