SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘You Cannot Stop Enjoying It’: Company Founder After Attending Shen Yun

Jan 17, 2026

1/17/2026Updated: 1/17/2026

NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—Company founder and CEO Sardor Umrdinov brought his children to see Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time on Jan 16, at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts.

“I love the show. It’s beautiful. You can really see the authentic, the old 5,000 years of history in one place,” Mr. Umrdinov said. “It’s really beautiful. My kids are enjoying as well.”

He was moved by the company’s use of color and the intricate details of the dancers’ costumes.

“The colors are really light and bright and really beautiful. You can see the silk—the purest colors. You cannot stop enjoying it,” he shared.

“The costumes are beautiful. You can really feel the authenticity and the quality of the materials as well.”

According to the company’s website, the name ‘Shen Yun” translates directly into “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by elite Chinese artists who fled the country to escape persecution by the communist regime. Now in the free world, these artists have made it their mission to revive China’s 5,000 years of divinely inspired civilization through dance and music.

Born in the Soviet Union, Mr. Umrdinov knows firsthand the hardship of living under a communist regime and appreciates the artists’ effort.

“I believe it’s really important to keep the culture. Because without the roots and the past, there is no future. You have to always keep up and carry your past with you to have a bright future.”

He found Shen Yun to be a very educational experience and was glad he got to share it with his children.

“How the colors, how everything is set up, and the music itself—you can really feel the roots, the deep history,” he said.

“My kids love it. That was my main purpose, actually, to come to the show to teach the kids. I’m from Uzbekistan, we [share] similar roots. I brought my kids to see the cultural difference and the history of China.”

He hopes his children will come away with an appreciation for the beauty of traditional culture and learn to value these histories.

Lastly, Mr. Umrdinov had a message for the performers: “They’re doing a great job. They have to keep up and continue the culture and the history and translate [it into the arts] and show the entire world about Chinese civilization.”

Reporting by NTD 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.