SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Dancers Are ‘Beautiful and Absolutely Stunning,’ Says Company Director

Feb 14, 2026

2/14/2026Updated: 2/14/2026

HOUSTON—On Feb. 13, international company manager Brendon Hawtin and his wife, Mandy, a company director, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the CFISD Visual and Performing Arts Center. They were amazed by the beauty and skill of the dancers.

“I loved it,” Mrs. Hawtin exclaimed. “It was very colorful, and their skill and their strength are incredible—especially the male dancers. I can’t believe how powerful and strong and talented they are. The women, they’re beautiful and absolutely stunning.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun artists are highly trained in classical Chinese dance. Dating back thousands of years, it is one of the most athletic and expressive art forms in the world.

Mrs. Hawtin also enjoyed the company’s depiction of heaven and traditional Chinese spirituality.

“I think [the performance] has got a very spiritual undertone and it’s very meaningful,” she said. “It’s showing us Chinese culture and history and the current political struggles that they’re experiencing. I’m just loving it; I think it’s fantastic.”

Endowed with 5,000 years of history, China was once known as the “Land of the Divine.” For millennia, its people believed that by keeping their hearts pure and adhering to strict moral standards, they would be blessed by the divine. After the communist takeover and the spread of atheism, all this traditional culture was systematically destroyed.

Shen Yun’s mission is to bring back the beauty and goodness of China before communism.

Though the company has received worldwide acclaim since its establishment in 2006, it is banned by the ruling communist regime due to the artists’ commitment to raising awareness about ongoing human rights issues in present-day China.

Mrs. Hawton said Shen Yun made her realize that China has such a deeply spiritual culture. She was very surprised by how many similarities there were between traditional Chinese beliefs and Christianity.

“It’s amazing. I didn’t know any of that,” she stated. “From my experience, watching the Chinese culture in my lifetime has been quite prohibitive, quite restrictive [under] the political system in China at the moment.”

“I was surprised with the parallels between Christianity and the Chinese beliefs. There was a lot of parallels.”

Mr. Hawton also enjoyed the performance. He recalled watching the Monkey King on television while growing up and was delighted to see Shen Yun bring the famous story from the classic novel “Journey to the West“ to life through dance and music.

“The skill and the strength of the dancers—it’s incredible, just amazing. The storytelling is mesmerizing. The thing that stands out the most for me is the perfect synchronicity of the dancers. It’s perfection.”

He can tell that the dancers have given their all to the performance.

“They’re connecting with the audience by looking at the audience, and they’re smiling, and they’re portraying how they’re feeling in the moment,” Mr. Hawtin said. “The story is really wonderful.”

Reporting by Sherry Dong and Jennifer Tseng.

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