SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Opens the Doors to a Lost Culture, Says Texas Patron

Jan 04, 2026

1/4/2026Updated: 1/4/2026

DALLAS, Texas—Audience members enjoyed the first matinee performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts’ 2026 tour at the Eisemann Center on Jan. 3, 2026.

This was the second time that Mark Sij, a chief medical officer, and his wife Heather, a registered nurse, attended a Shen Yun performance. They returned for another year to experience “the colors, the history, the culture, [and] the brilliant dancing.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s leading classical Chinese dance company. Featuring a live orchestra that blends Eastern and Western instrumentation and authentic Chinese Classical Dance that has been passed down through antiquity, Shen Yun presents story-based dances from 5,000 years of Chinese culture.

“The performance is magnificent … the synchrony and the precision with the dancing is just wonderful … [and] the colors are brilliant,” Mr. Sij said.

He commented that “the flowing of the costumes and the vibrant colors” impressed him most.

According to the company’s website, Shen Yun’s costumes and colors are true to traditional aesthetics and styles, painting each dance piece with the splendor of “China before communism.”

Aside from the splendid colors, the Sijs both appreciate Shen Yun’s mission to revive traditional Chinese culture, which has been on the brink of extinction since the Chinese communist party (CCP) seized power in 1949.

Shen Yun is “opening the doors and the windows for other people to see these things that they never would have a chance to see,” Mr. Sij said.

“[China’s] lost that history. They’ve lost their tradition,” he added. The Chinese people inside China today have “lost the ability to be able to speak freely, to be able to express themselves with their ethnic dances and their cultural dances.”

Mrs. Sij commended Shen Yun for preserving these traditions onstage.

“It is extremely important to never lose that culture,” she said. “It’s wonderful that they’re able to express that culture … even though it’s not in China.”

Along with myths and legends from ancient times, Shen Yun presents story-based dances portraying the persecution of Falun Dafa, a meditation discipline based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. In 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a persecution campaign against the spiritual practice, which is also called Falun Gong, and adherents have since been subjected to unprecedented imprisonment, torture, and abuse.

Mr. Sij said that Shen Yun “did a very good job” at expressing that message through art.

“Their message is very well received … you can see the passion and the plight of those people,” he said. “They’re putting out a brilliant effort.”

Mr. Sij is already looking forward to seeing Shen Yun again next year.

“We'll be back again, for sure,” he said.

“Experienc[ing] the cultures of other countries and other people is vitally important, for not just our community but for the … world,” he said.

Reporting by Frank Liang and Jennifer Schneider.

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