SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘More Than I Expected’: Shen Yun Delights in Baltimore

Apr 19, 2026

4/19/2026Updated: 4/19/2026

BALTIMORE—Nolanda Robert, a councilwoman for Maryland’s Harford County, was closely observing the footwork of Shen Yun Performing Arts’ dancers as they took the stage at the Hippodrome Theatre on Saturday afternoon.

“I love looking at the height of the legs and the pirouettes and all those things that I know I’ve done in the past,” Ms. Robert, a former professional dancer who knows footwork is the foundation of all dance, told The Epoch Times after emerging from the theater.

Shen Yun showcases classical Chinese dance, which includes moves that resemble martial arts; both art forms are rooted in the same ancient culture. For the past 20 years, Shen Yun’s artists have been using dance to revive “China before communism.”

Robert said her husband had wanted to see Shen Yun for years before she finally bought tickets as a Christmas present. “It’s more than what I expected because it’s telling a story,” she said of her experience.

That story begins at the dawn of the universe with a spectacular scene of heaven, where dancers enact the Chinese myth of creation, where deities and the Creator himself descend to Earth to roll out 5,000 years of the civilization’s history. Dance segments progress through China’s different dynasties, with ancient legends and ethnic dances dotting the way.

But Robert said she was “shocked” when the story finally reached the present day and showed modern China under communism.

While celebrating the many things in China that have been oppressed in China under communism—spirituality, religion, and traditional moral values—Shen Yun also tells of the persecution of faith in modern-day China. Some performers in the dance company themselves had to flee China to escape such persecution.

Watching the epic saga unfold from start to finish, Robert heard the performers’ message through dance: “The world can be a better place as long as everybody works together,” she said.

The positivity of this message echoed throughout the program. The characters in the ancient tales illustrate morals—such as kindness and people helping each other—while the injustice in the modern piece is corrected through divine intervention. The persecuted are healed by the heavens, and the evil doers are punished.

Kerry Colville, who manages a power plant in Pennsylvania, also watched Shen Yun on Saturday and called the performance “beautiful” and “amazing,” though she, too, was saddened by the modern segment about persecution.

Kerry Colville watches Shen Yun Performing Arts with her husband at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore on April 18, 2026. (Terri Wu/The Epoch Times) — Kerry Colville watches Shen Yun Performing Arts with her husband at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore on April 18, 2026. Terri Wu/The Epoch Times

“The [piece in] modern China and them being penalized for still practicing their ancient arts, their ancient beliefs—that one was very deep, very troubling,” she said. “It’s still going on.”

But the artists presented a redemptive message that good and evil will be repaid in kind, which offers hope, Kerry said. She also enjoyed the pieces inspired by China’s famed hero of the ages, like the Monkey King, which were “fun.”

“The costumes have been wonderful, everything’s been,” she said. “The storytelling’s been great, and the effects. I’ve been really enjoying it.”

Reporting by Terri Wu and Michael Wing.

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