NEWARK, N.J.— George Batista, a lawyer, brought his family back to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on May 2, 2026.
His second time seeing the performance, Mr. Batista saw it for the first time in 2016 at Lincoln Center in New York.
“The discipline, it is unbelievable,” he added. “The number of hours of practice that must go behind every one of these performances—and especially each number—it’s something to admire, and that’s why I’m here again with my family.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s leading classical Chinese dance production. Featuring a live orchestra and authentic classical Chinese dance that has been passed down through antiquity, Shen Yun presents story-based dances that span 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.
“The singing and the music are very beautiful,” Mr. Batista said. “The tenor and the lyrics are terrific.”
Most significantly, Shen Yun brings awareness to an ongoing persecution in China of a meditation practice called Falun Dafa.
“Falun Dafa is being suppressed around the world—especially in China—and they just want to have peace … and do good things on earth,” Mr. Batista said. “I think that’s a good thing for everybody, and I really support it.”
The CCP wants “to control religion, they want to control people, and I think that they’re trying to prevent people from actually living in peace,” Mr. Batista said. “It’s more of an authoritarian regime, and they don’t want people to have these compassionate thoughts for one another; they want to really control people.”
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. In the past, artists looked to the divine for inspiration and cultivated virtue in order to create uplifting art. Today, Shen Yun’s artists follow in this noble tradition, which is why audiences feel there is something different about Shen Yun, according to the company’s website.
In regard to Shen Yun’s story-based dances that display the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance, Mr. Batista said, “It’s what connects mankind to everyone.”
“I believe it is a universal value,” he added. “So, I think everybody should show compassion, show respect, and live their lives in peace.”
“I think that if they allowed it in China, and people saw how beautiful it was, I think there would be more of an acceptance of both this type of performance and Falun Dafa,” Mr. Batista said. “I do believe that as long as people are talking about it, it’s a good thing, because eventually it will spread, and then most people will accept it.”
