SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun’s Dance Is ‘Next Level. It’s so Fantastic,’ Says Dance Instructor

Mar 16, 2026

3/16/2026Updated: 3/16/2026

MELBOURNE, Australia—On March 15, dance instructor Louise Smith brought her daughter to enjoy Shen Yun Performing Arts’ final show at the Plenary Theatre.

“I thought it was visually beautiful,” Ms. Smith praised at the end of the matinee. “The costumes, especially, were amazing, and the orchestra was fantastic as well.”

As one of the world’s oldest civilizations, China’s 5,000 years of history are rich with breathtaking legends and time-honored traditions. Yet within just a few decades of the Chinese communists’ rise to power, much of this magnificent culture was destroyed.

The spread of atheism rapidly undermined belief in the divine, and the cherished virtues drawn from Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism were swept away.

Today, New York–based Shen Yun is working to revive this lost civilization and to bring back, through dance and music, the beauty of China before communism.

Ms. Smith wholeheartedly agrees with this mission. She especially enjoyed the artists’ use of dance to share traditional values and classic legends.

“The values were fantastic. The way that they expressed them and showed them through the stories was really clear and easy to follow along,” Ms. Smith said. “It was beautiful.”

“I think it’s really important. It’s great to see a lot of children here. Hopefully, they understood those values and saw that in the storylines as well.”

She also enjoyed the company’s use of a 3D digital backdrop to create a magical illusion and enhance storytelling.

“That was wonderful,” she shared. “The backdrop is something I haven’t seen before. I’ve seen just plain scenery in the backdrop, but to have that integration between the live performers and the actual backdrop—the story that it’s telling is really fantastic.”

As a dance teacher, she paid extra attention to Shen Yun’s dancers and was delighted by what she saw.

“The dance is amazing. It was next level. It was so fantastic. The precision in the arm lines, their headlines, everything. And they’re just beautiful,” she said.

“The male dancers are obviously very strong. They make it look so easy—everything they do—all the elevation steps, and the females are just so graceful and beautiful. They’re doing so much technical stuff down the bottom half of their bodies, and the upper bodies are just beautiful and flowing. Just gorgeous.”

Shen Yun artists are highly trained in classical Chinese dance—an art form with a history spanning thousands of years, celebrated for its athleticism and expressive power. What many may not realize is that numerous tumbling techniques often associated with gymnastics and acrobatics actually originate from classical Chinese dance.

“I think just the combination of the acrobatics and the gracefulness is something that you don’t see anywhere else,” Ms. Smith added. “That was just really beautiful.”

She also thought the spiritual element of Shen Yun’s performance was “was very moving.”

“Some stories, in particular, the spiritual side—I could see that the dancers themselves really felt it in their bodies. The way that they were telling the spiritual side of the story was really beautiful.”

Lastly, she would like to commend Shen Yun artists for their dedication.

“I appreciate all of their training and the way that they were able to perform for us, and give us something beautiful to watch,” Ms. Smith shared.

Reporting by Mike Deng 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.