LONDON, UK—Global company founder and CEO Angeline Shalabi attended the opening performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at London’s Eventim Apollo on the evening of Jan. 13.
As Shen Yun celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2026, the company continues to delight audiences worldwide. This season, its eight equally sized touring companies are scheduled to perform in more than 200 cities across five continents.
Having lived in Hong Kong, Ms. Shalabi was captivated by the beauty of Shen Yun’s dances and the richness of China’s cultural heritage.
She found it especially relatable that the artists brought a modern social issue to the stage: how people today often spend more time on their phones than engaging with their communities and surroundings.
“It was very relatable. It was very interesting to see how [Shen Yun] did the creation of the thousands of years of traditions,” she shared.
“Hong Kong is one of those places where everyone is constantly looking at their phones and not looking up, but I think the history is absolutely stunning and beautiful. The way they performed it was really wonderful. It was very touching and spiritual.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. The artists’ goal is to revive China’s 5,000 years of divine-inspired culture, which was forced to the brink of destruction under communist rule.
Ms. Shalabi, who works in media and technology, was very interested to see Shen Yun’s use of the digital backdrop. The dancers and musicians collaborated seamlessly with the animated projections to create a magical illusion. The technology is so innovative that it has been granted its own patent.
“It’s absolutely incredible,” she said. “I thought the choreography, the 3d stage—it was absolutely incredible—[with] the music orchestra to hold things together, it was absolutely magical. So wonderful.”
The evening’s finale left a lasting impression on Ms. Shalabi. The story-based dance conveyed the idea that if people are good and kind to one another, the divine will descend from heaven to help humanity in times of need.
“I had chills, it was amazing,” she commented. “It was beautiful and felt like a blessing in real life.”
Finally, Ms. Shalabi praised the artists for their skill and dedication.
They are “incredibly talented in every way,” she said. “From the pianist, dancers, musicians, conductor, actors, the choreographers, and everyone behind the scenes who wasn’t on the stage—absolutely well done.”
