SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Impresses Graphic Designer: ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This’

May 03, 2025

5/3/2025Updated: 7/2/2025

CHICAGO—Graphic designer Hector Ochoa watched Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the Civic Opera House on May 3.

“It’s wonderful,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its inception, Shen Yun has expanded from one to eight equally sized companies that tour around the world simultaneously, reviving traditional Chinese culture and showcasing the beauty of “China before communism.”

“I think [Shen Yun] brings some idea of how history changed, how [China] was before communism,” Mr. Ochoa said. “I love the artistic aspect of the dance, [and how they] tell the story without dialogue.”

Dance and music are often considered universal languages because they transcend cultural and linguistic barriers. Mr. Ochoa found that many of the story-based dances included in Shen Yun’s program evoked emotional responses from him.

“They don’t have to have a dialogue. You see what’s happening with the choreography, with the music, with the dance. It’s emotional. It evokes a lot of emotions.”

Mr. Ochoa added that Shen Yun’s music—which is performed by a live orchestra that combines traditional Chinese and Western instruments, was “beautiful as well.”

“Because, .. the music is live, it synchronizes very well with the dance,” he said.

As a graphic designer, Mr. Ochoa took particular notice of all the vibrant colors throughout the performance, and said that the colors were “very well coordinated with the music and the background.”

“The costumes, they’re very fluid,“ Mr. Ochoa said. ”It tells a story and how the dynamics of the dance and how it flows along with the music. ... As a graphic designer, I really appreciate those things. The selection of the music, the visuals, the colors, and the choreography. It’s a world-class composition.”

Shen Yun’s patented animated backdrop was another feature that stood out to Mr. Ochoa.

“It’s very clear the way they use the projections with the light performance,” he said. “Very colourful. It’s great, inspirational.”

Mr. Ochoa could tell that Shen Yun’s performers were all very dedicated to their crafts.

“They flow like on air. They’re very skillful. They make it look very easy, but I know it’s not. ... You can tell right away that there’s a lot of practice [and] training.”

Reporting by Sherry Dong and Wandi Zhu.

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