Shen Yun Performing Arts’ 2025 season took a final curtain call on May 11 in Philadelphia; Paris; Nashville, Tennessee; and Providence, Rhode Island. This year, New York-based Shen Yun’s eight companies performed for an estimated 1 million-plus theatergoers attending more than 760 shows. Shen Yun visited major cities across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia, to rave reviews.
Rome pulled out all the stops for Shen Yun’s first visit in almost seven years, with the company receiving a welcome reception from Italian senators ahead of an appearance at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. The invitation was extended by Sen. Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, president of the Senate’s EU Affairs Committee and former Italian foreign minister.
“This is something truly extraordinary,” he said. “You represent beauty, you represent the divinity of the human being, and dance is the perfect expression of all this.”
Terzi described the performance as a perfect example of “cultural diplomacy,” using art and beauty as a medium to share universal values. “Shen Yun is the bearer of a universal message of harmony, respect, and above all freedom,” he stated.
In South Korea, Suseong District Council chairwoman Gye-hwa Cho described the performance as one that “heals the heart, body, and spirit.”
“It was a mesmerizing and beautiful show that completely enchanted me,” she said. “I feel truly fortunate to have seen this performance. It was incredibly meaningful and unforgettable.
“Through today’s performance, I realized that human beings are capable of extraordinary abilities. I witnessed moments that felt almost beyond what we believe humans can do. In life, when we face difficulties, we truly need patience, perseverance, and endurance—and these qualities were clearly reflected in the performers’ presentation.”
Delaware State Rep. Lyndon D. Yearick (R) attended Shen Yun at the Miller Theater in Philadelphia on May 10, commending the artists and presenting them with a proclamation.
“It’s very refreshing. It’s just a very amazing, powerful performance—the performers, their dedication and their artistry, as well as the dance, and the singers,” he said. He added that he opposed the Chinese communist regime’s ongoing religious persecution of Falun Gong, and that Shen Yun shone an important light on this issue.
“I’m motivated, energized, appreciative of what we have, [including] all of our great privileges and freedoms that we have here in the United States, that unfortunately are still lacking in mainland China, and that many, many others do not have.
“We should never take these things for granted,” Mr. Yearick said. “The show is a reflection of the peace and the harmony, and what can be accomplished as we are great human beings together.”
Democratic Virginia state Sen. Barbara Favola attended Shen Yun at the Kennedy Center in Washington on March 1, and said the stories conveyed something universal and profound.
“It’s very beautiful. It’s very beautiful. Very powerful, too,” Ms. Favola said. She felt one of the takeaways was that ”if you live your values, you’re eventually going to be happy,“ even though you will face ”a lot of challenges ahead.”
“I’m grateful I came,” she said.
Former Argentine Vice President Carlos Ruckauf, a towering figure in the nation’s political history, attended the performance alongside his wife at the Teatro Ópera in Buenos Aires on April 17.
“The performance is spectacular, and its resistance to communism is equally commendable,” Mr. Ruckauf said. “I feel connected to these values, and the feeling persists. I also experienced beauty.”
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Edith Dumont enjoyed the performance at the National Arts Centre on April 20 and presented the artists a proclamation on behalf of the province of Ontario.
“It’s stories that go to your heart,” Ms. Dumont said after seeing the performance. “The combination of the orchestra, the classical music, the classical dance, and at the same time, telling us stories that are 5,000 years old—I think it was something very moving.”
Hermann Tertsch, a member of the European Parliament for the Vox party, felt Shen Yun having eight companies was not nearly enough.
“I think it’s magnificent. I think it’s very successful. I think it’s just to be applauded, and the thing to do is to multiply it. I’m told there’s eight [groups] on stage all over the world. I wish there were 80, and I hope soon there will be 800,” he said. “Beautiful show, magnificent. It’s very inspiring to recover this magnificent effort to really bring back the authentic China, the spiritual China, the China of a 5,000-year-old culture. ... We need to go back to dive into the memory of authentic China, the spiritual China.”
Some cities welcomed the performing arts company for the first time. Riga, the capital of Latvia, hosted Shen Yun’s historic debut in a former Soviet Union country. Larisa Polosuhina, one of the wealthiest women in Latvia with commercial interests in the Baltic region, said, “Very beautiful, the colors are stunning, and the dance, of course!”
Paris enjoyed Shen Yun’s longest run from April through May. French National Assembly member Thierry Frappé spoke for many when he said: “I’ve been to a lot of shows before, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a show of this quality. It’s part dream, part enchantment. The color, the dance, the dreams, the sets, everything is absolutely remarkable.”
New York City’s Lincoln Center hosted 18 sold-out performances. Audience members praised Shen Yun’s beautiful production and hopeful message.
Frederick Newcomb, investment banker and president of a financial service company, said: “The presentation and the message were one, and it conveyed it perfectly. The future of the world is in our hands. We won’t outlive it, but it will outlive us. And the good work that’s being done like this will transcend time.”
Michael Cogdill, a news anchor in Greenville, South Carolina, said: “You can’t watch this and not be happy. There is such happiness. Even though there is repression from communist China, there is an evolution through it. Humanity evolves beyond such dreadfulness. It’s just happiness throughout. The art of happy.”
In Lausanne, Switzerland, Geneva City Councilor Daniel Dany Pastore attended the performance on Feb. 21 at the Théâtre de Beaulieu and said Shen Yun was unlike any other performance.
“I’ve seen a lot of shows in my life, but this is the first time I’ve seen a show like this and really I’m blown away,” Mr. Pastore said. “I found the show extraordinary. It’s unimaginable: the technique, the coordination, it’s all so finely tuned, down to the last thousandth of a millimeter. Everything is extraordinary.”
In Australia, Member of the Victorian Legislative Council Ann-Marie Hermans enjoyed the opening night performance at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on the evening of Feb. 14, which kicked off Shen Yun’s Australian tour.
“It was absolutely spectacular, it was beautiful, it was bold, and it was brilliant,” she said. “I think [Shen Yun has] some of the most incredible dancing and storytelling that I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s just been an amazing experience. It’s so beautiful and, at times, very incredibly emotional,” she added. “It’s telling stories of people, and it’s telling stories of the human spirit.”
Archbishop Makarios, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia, attended a performance in Sydney on Feb. 26 and days later wrote the company a letter to extend his “heartfelt congratulations” for the artists’ “brilliant artistic revival” of a divinely inspired culture.
“Through this rich and most captivating performance, you offer a beautiful and spiritual message to the wider society, which is of the utmost importance in our current days,” Archbishop Makarios wrote in a March 3 letter to the Shen Yun cast, crew, and production team, which was shared with local presenters of the performance.
‘Positive Energy’
Many audience members voiced their support for Shen Yun’s mission of reviving traditional Chinese culture before communism. They commented on the positive energy they felt during performances and messages of hope and beauty that touched their hearts.Antonio Martínez Pastor, a regional councilor of Murcia, Spain, said, “We are all very enthusiastic because the truth is that [the performance] transmits a lot of positive energy.”
JJ Anderson, a director of finance in biotech, in Escondido, California, said: “I think what’s great about [Shen Yun’s message] is that it’s kindness and compassion. ... It doesn’t matter what you believe. ... Just be nice to each other. Be kind, be compassionate, be tolerant.
“That’s the message I get. ... Love, kindness, compassion wins out every time.”
When he saw Shen Yun in São Paulo, Brazil, dental surgeon William Ortega de Souza said that Shen Yun “brings a different feeling: good energy and a connection with the divine.”
“It gives that warm feeling in the heart when we see culture really showcased. People need to know this beautiful culture, and that in [the artists’] own country, they can’t express themselves,” he said.
Anna Agosto, an entrepreneur in San Juan, Puerto Rico, said: “They bring hope, they bring happiness. We are living right now in a moment that is so hard with everything. And then you come here, and you feel relaxed and connected and that heavenly atmosphere that we need.”
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn described Shen Yun as “a miracle.”
Threats and Attacks
As the popularity of Shen Yun continues to grow, performers and staff have found themselves increasingly threatened and harassed by the Chinese communist regime.
Such threats, however, have not been able to diminish the enthusiasm audiences exhibit for Shen Yun, which is already preparing an all-new production for 2026.
