SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shows That ‘The Divine Infuses Creation’: Law Professor

Jan 05, 2026

1/5/2026Updated: 1/5/2026

DALLAS—David Upham, an associate professor of law, found Shen Yun Performing Arts so good the first time he saw it that he bought tickets as “Christmas gifts for all of my family, and for several of my siblings, too.” They all attended New York-based Shen Yun’s matinee performance at Dallas’s Eisemann Center on Jan. 4.

Mr. Upham said they were not disappointed by the performance that aims to revive “China before communism.”

“It’s an exquisite concert, exquisite beauty, both the music and the dance and the costumes, all of it,” he said.

In 2006, Chinese artists fled persecution under China’s ruling communist party and founded Shen Yun in New York.

For thousands of years, China’s civilization flourished under a shared belief in the divine and in upholding the righteousness of traditional values. However, the communist party has spent the last few decades attacking these beliefs and replacing them with atheism.

Shen Yun’s mission is to restore the beauty of China’s 5,000-year-old culture to the world via music and dance.

Mr. Upham said that, like in the West, “communism has not helped [China], that’s for sure. It’s not been a good influence.”

“It’s very strange. Many different aspects of different cultures have positively influenced each other. But Marxism has been a very bad thing, and it would have been very good for China to say, ‘[We] appreciate violins, appreciate a lot of things from the West, but [we] don’t want the Marxism, thanks.

“If I could have advised the Chinese people 80 years ago, I would have told them, we’ve got some good stuff in the West, some bad, and Marxism isn’t good,” he said.

On the theme of the West’s gift of the violin to the world, Mr. Upham praised the Shen Yun Orchestra, which had traditional Chinese instruments, such as the 4,000-year-old two-stringed erhu, playing Chinese melodies that were filled out by a full Western orchestra.

“I was just telling somebody yesterday that I'd like to hear more of what I would call a kind of fusion of traditional Chinese with some Western instruments. And that’s just obviously what [Shen Yun does] here, relying on Western orchestral music and … more traditional Chinese melodies and instruments. So I thought it’s really an interesting and beautiful experience.”

In thinking about what the West could learn from China’s vast traditions, Mr. Upham expressed appreciation for “a very strong attention to the details of the beauty of the world. I think that’s definitely it, and in a sense in which the divine infuses creation. This is really beautiful.”

Shared Belief in the Creator

Rick Rushing enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Eisemann Center in Dallas on Jan. 4, 2026. (Sherry Dong/The Epoch Times) — Rick Rushing enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Eisemann Center in Dallas on Jan. 4, 2026. Sherry Dong/The Epoch Times

The divinity showcased in Shen Yun spoke to more members of the audience.

Now a director of sales for a heating and air conditioning company, Rick Rushing was a professional ballroom dancer for 13 years. He thought Shen Yun was beautiful; he loved it.

Given Mr. Rushing’s background, it’s understandable that he focused on the choreography and dance technique. He noted how smooth the flow was, how good the technique was, and how well-timed the dancing was.

“Everything is perfect,” he said. “Elegant; everything you’d want to see in this type of show.”

“The jumping, the aerobatics, just the overall timing as a group, they do very well. They are very synced.”

With dancers from across the globe, Shen Yun is considered the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. This type of dance, with its athleticism and innate expressiveness, is known for its ability to tell stories.

“I liked the stories being told at each stage throughout history. I liked that very much. [Shen Yun] tells a great story from the beginning to where we are today,” Mr. Rushing said.

As Shen Yun’s website states, China’s ancient name, “The Land of the Divine,” tells of a world where deities and mortals together walked the Earth. Emperors sought to follow the Way of Heaven, and daily life was replete with rituals connecting the human and the divine.”

The performance opens with the Creator coming to Earth, a scene that touched Mr. Rushing. “It means a lot to me because that’s how I believe: that a Creator came and began everything. So [Shen Yun] tells that story,” he said.

Reporting by Sherry Dong, Frank Liang, and Sharon Kilarski.

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