SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Philadelphia Couple Praises Shen Yun’s Cultural Revival Mission

Apr 18, 2026

4/18/2026Updated: 4/18/2026

PHILADELPHIA—Kevin Anderson will soon have a new adopted granddaughter from Taiwan, who is forgetting her ancestral culture after several years in the United States. That’s one reason he and his wife, Jen, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Miller Theater in Philadelphia on Friday.

While the Andersons are very clear about the distinction between Taiwan and China, they also know their granddaughter’s roots go back a long way.

“I love the cultural impact that the show is trying to achieve,” said Mr. Anderson, a business analyst, after the performance. “I think I feel for the people in communist China who don’t have their freedom, and this is a really neat show.”

Since the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949, much of China’s history and values have been rewritten, replacing spirituality with materialism and sowing division rather than kindness. But over the past 20 years, the artists of Shen Yun have established a dance company and live orchestra to tour the world, reviving a culture that was “almost lost.”

For the Andersons, the presentation of ancient beauty sparked the most joy. Mr. Anderson mentioned the dozens of lady dancers in their long, elegant ‘water sleeves,’ seeming to float across the stage as light as air.

“I love watching them throw their sleeves and catch them. It’s fun,” he said.

The grace of the female dancers contrasts with the men’s powerful acrobatics, together showcasing the versatility of classical Chinese dance.

“I like watching the men, like when they were tumbling in a circle—and their hands and then their feet, and then their hands and then their feet,“ Mrs. Anderson said. ”I thought that was really cool.”

The tumbling movements she described are part of the classical Chinese dance repertoire. Many of its flying leaps and flips look like gymnastics or other Western dance moves. But during the performance, the emcees—who prime and educate the audience with tidbits before each dance segment—said these were borrowed; they’re actually moves from Chinese dance, which is way older.

Education was the big reason the Andersons came tonight.

Their future granddaughter, Mr. Anderson says, has “been in the U.S. for three years now, and she said she’s losing her language and she doesn’t want to lose her language and her culture.” Then he added, “So my daughter is doing everything she can to learn more about her culture and her language so that she can keep that as she grows up.”

He said they’re also aware that Shen Yun is banned from performing in mainland China by the communist regime.

“It is an effort to keep Chinese culture alive in spite of the communist repression and suppression of the culture,” Mr. Anderson said. “ It’s a shame those of us who have freedom can experience it and those who really it need can’t.”

Reporting by Lily Sun 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.