GUADALAJARA, Mexico—Closing out their 2026 season, Shen Yun’s eight touring companies celebrated their 20th anniversary with performances to over 200 cities worldwide, including six shows at the Santander Performing Arts Complex in Guadalajara.

National Director Enrique Trejo Rodríguez and his wife María de la Luz Quezada Ramírez, retired associate professor of the University of Guadalajara, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time on May 8.

“An extraordinary show,” Mrs. Rodríguez said. “You feel a sense of tranquility just watching it all—and that harmony brings you such peace.”

“It is a performance that truly nourishes the soul,” she added.

“It transports us to a country we’ve never known—one that is fascinating—and we absolutely love its culture,” Mr. Rodríguez said. “The costumes, the movements—they are all incredibly spectacular, it’s marvelous.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s leading classical Chinese dance production. Featuring a live orchestra that blends Eastern and Western instrumentation 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.

According to the company’s website, the performance consists of 20 pieces that move “from one legend, region, or dynasty to the next” and presents “China before communism.”

One of Mrs. Rodríguez’s favorite dance-dramas was the men’s Mongolian ethnic dance. She was impressed by how the dancers evoked the rhythms of the plains through gestures that imitate riding horses and falconry.

“All the movements—the way they use movement to express that they are riding horses … I found it truly spectacular,” she said. ““I was struck by the entire stage setting.”

Classical Chinese dance involves a dance-acting element where coordinating facial expressions with physical movements results in an amplified form of expression. So with its flips and gentle elegance, this ancient dance system is one of the most athletic and expressive art forms in the world.

“You can feel the dancers’ energy everywhere—not just in that specific piece but throughout the entire show. It’s something that has left me deeply impressed,” Mrs. Rodríguez said.

“The way those movements convey the specific theme they are exploring—along with the harmony with which they execute it—is simply fabulous … because it is not only the dance, it is the transmission of that feeling.”

Mr. Rodríguez said Shen Yun’s name, which translates as “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” is quite fitting.

“I’m fascinated by the women dancing; it’s stunning. It looks as if they’re flying,” he said.

“You can feel how the young women and men are transmitting something truly divine … something celestial, something angelic,” he added.

“The music has also impressed me,” he said of the Shen Yun Orchestra. “It is impressive how they also transmit beauty through the performance.”

China was once known as “The Land of the Divine” and Shen Yun presents this culture by drawing upon the Middle Kingdom’s Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian 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, says the company’s website.

“These performers truly seem divine, and that isn’t easy; that can only be achieved through discipline and extensive training,” Mrs. Rodríguez said. “In truth, what we are witnessing really is divine.”

“Congratulations to all the artists, all the dancers, all the performers,” Mr. Rodríguez said. “[They’re] true professionals. You can see they have spent years working, studying, and preparing in this art.”

“What we are seeing today is incredible,” he added.