SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Former Royal Academy Dance Teacher Says Shen Yun Dancers Are ’Perfection Personified’

Feb 14, 2026

2/14/2026Updated: 2/15/2026

LIANDUDNO, UK—Robert Boyd very much enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Venue Cymru on Feb. 14.

Mr. Boyd, a retired dance teacher of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and Royal Academy, said, “I think it’s absolutely mesmerizing. It’s fantastic. Really, I have a good vocabulary, but words can’t describe it.

“It’s not a show. It’s a total experience. The gracefulness of the dancers, the absolute perfection. Actually, I don’t think people realize the thousands of hours it takes to reach that perfection,” he said.

With an extensive background in all kinds of dance, Mr. Boyd said he appreciated the training and skill required for the performance. “I was a dance teacher before I retired, so I know quite a lot about it. The expressiveness is absolutely first class.”

Mr. Boyd taught ballet and other dances and expressed his appreciation for the effort needed to be perfect in classical Chinese dance.

“I taught ballet, tap, Latin American, every branch of dancing you can imagine—all dancing. When you watch the Royal Ballet, they dance to perfection. They study and study and study, years and years to get to that perfection, just like your company,” Mr. Boyd said.

He praised the dancers’ level of artistry. “The artistic levels are amazing. They’re absolutely perfection personified. They really are. The arm movements ... they don’t just dance with the feet, they dance from the top of the head, the toes, to the fingertips. Everything’s so coordinated. It’s absolutely perfection,” he said.

Mr. Boyd appreciated the soloists who are trained in the bel canto method of classical singing. He was very moved by the singer who sang, “The Creator Alone Can Save Us.”

“I tell you what moved me: that beautiful song that I would call it a hymn. The words were so moving. I think when he was singing, it’s a place we would all like to think we were going to one day. We’re not just here as mortals. We are going to a place much better. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful,”

Shen Yun is sharing China’s traditional culture, and many audience members understand.

Mr. Boyd said, “I think [Shen Yun] is trying to share spirituality and Chinese tradition, which is very sad that they’re not allowed to practice in China at the moment.”

The present communist regime has banned Shen Yun from performing in China, but Mr. Boyd held hope for change that the message would reach the Chinese people.

“Things may change. It conveys a message that art should be available to everybody, worldwide. There should be no restrictions on art,” he said.

Of Shen Yun’s patented digital backdrop, Mr. Boyd said it was “fabulous. The graphics were absolutely fabulous. So clever, and so well coordinated.”

As the curtain opens, the backdrop comes into play as the Creator comes to save humanity. This moved Mr. Boyd. “You know, when the Buddha comes up. it’s magnificent. It makes you tingle,” he said.

To the dancers, Mr. Boyd said, “I just want to give them my admiration and wish them all the very best the world can bring.”

“I learned a lot of new things, actually. There’s nothing like seeing it, as opposed to reading it. You have to see it to believe it,” he said.

Reporting by Jenna Zhan and Yvonne Marcotte.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.