SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Is ‘A Fascinating Performance,’ Says Retired Army Colonel

Jan 11, 2026

1/11/2026Updated: 1/11/2026

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Retired Army colonel Victor Suarez was mesmerized by the beauty of Shen Yun Performing Arts from the moment the curtain opened on the evening of Jan. 10, at the Trump Kennedy Center Opera House.

“It was wonderful. It was such a fascinating performance,” he said. “Just the colors and then the dancers were just so magical. The music was fabulous.”

Mr. Suarez’s wife, Katie, likened the beauty of the dancers to the China dolls she remembered from her childhood. “The classic China dolls, the beautiful woman, and the attires,” she said, adding, “I had always been drawn to that.”

“To see it come to life— the beauty, the mix of art that they displayed in [Shen Yun] with the dance. ... The grace, the elegance, the floating across the stage—it’s captivating,” she said. “I definitely want to come in future years.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company dedicated to reviving China’s rich culture, nearly lost under decades of communist rule.

The program is comprised of a series of short pieces that takes its audience on a journey through the dynasties and across the vast regions of China. Using classical Chinese, folk, and ethnic dances, as well as solo musical performances, the artists tell tales from ancient times to the present day.

The couple was amazed by the amount of culture and history Shen Yun conveyed through its performance.

“The fact that [Chinese culture] goes back 5,000 years and there’s so much rich culture and history that goes well beyond the modern government ... it’s a fascinating concept to bring that culture back,” Mr. Suarez said. “I think it’s an important message.”

The most memorable lesson he took from the evening was to “stick to the truth.”

“I think that was throughout the whole show,” he said. “Be good and kind. ... It was very distinct.”

In addition to reviving traditional values and culture, Shen Yun also uses story-based dances to raise awareness of ongoing human rights abuses in China under the current communist regime. For this, the company is banned from performing in China.

Mrs. Suarez said those pieces were “hard to watch because we’re sheltered from it [in the U.S.].”

“You hear that it occurs, but to see it, it brings it to life—you realize that the persecution is there,” she added.

Despite the emotional weight of these pieces, Mr. Suarez believes they convey an essential message.

“A lot of Americans and people all over the world don’t have any idea about some of the things that happened, whether it’s harvesting organs from people or slave labor and just brutal work conditions and a lack of freedom of speech,” he said.

“[Freedom] is something most people take for granted in the United States,” he said, adding that, as hard as it is to look at information about the persecution, he thinks it is important.

Mr. Suarez said he knows about the human rights abuses in China because he deals with national security. “It’s just important that more people are made aware of that,” he said.

For its 2026 season, Shen Yun’s eight touring companies will perform in more than 200 cities worldwide. Each year, they return with an entirely new set of choreography and music. It’s always a surprise for both new and returning audiences alike.

Reporting by Jenny Jing 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.