SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Theatergoers Glad Shen Yun Is Showing ‘What’s Really Happening’ in China

May 04, 2025

5/4/2025Updated: 5/5/2025

NEWARK, N.J.—Shen Yun Performing Arts entranced the audience at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on May 4.

Larry and Melissa Hagberg enjoyed the beautiful performance in many ways. Mrs. Hagberg, who works for a pharmaceutical company, said, “We’ve been seeing commercials for years and we’d keep saying, ‘oh, we really have to go see one of the performances.’ And I got us tickets for Christmas. So we’re here now.”

Mr. Hagberg, a business owner, said, “It was very informative. There’s a lot of information that I didn’t know before. I didn’t know you guys are based out of New York, which is a good thing. I like the positive spin on what’s going on with Communist China versus the freedom that we have here. And I’m glad you’re promoting what’s really happening.”

Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese culture before communism, and this resonated with Mr. Hagberg.

“I like the history,” he said. “I’m very [interested] about Asian history and Asian cultures, and how the mythology actually intermeshes. Every culture has a similar story, shown the same way, where the gods and our souls shouldn’t be mixing. And that story is timeless through Greek mythology all the way through Chinese and Asian cultures, so I enjoy it.“

Mrs. Hagberg said, “It’s absolutely beautiful. I mean, it’s wonderful to see the beautiful colors, and the performers are just top-notch. I really enjoyed the water sleeves one so far.”

Shen Yun features a live orchestra with a harmonious combination of Western and Eastern instruments and coordinates with the action on stage.

Mr. Hagberg said, “I even got one smile from one of the band members, you know, the orchestra. I went down and I saw a woman over there. She had a nice smile for me.

“So it shows that there is happiness out there despite what, you know, the media is portraying that it’s a big slave and whatnot.

“You can see that a lot of people love what they’re doing. I mean, you know, the orchestra had no reason to give a smile, and they did,” he said.

Shen Yun often elicits positive comments from the audience, many of whom say they feel uplifted and hopeful.

“It’s really inspiring,” Mrs. Hagberg said. “I mean, it’s just beautiful to watch.”

The Hagbergs offered encouraging words to the performers. “Thank you. Really, thank you. It’s wonderful to see the culture come to life right in front of us,” Mrs. Hagberg said.

“Thank you for the hard work and dedication,” Mr. Hagberg said. “So that’s very positive to counteract what communist China is saying, you know, to try to get across to the American people.”

Reporting by Yeawen Hung and Yvonne Marcotte.

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