SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

San Antonio Theatergoers Full of Praise for Shen Yun

SHARE
San Antonio Theatergoers Full of Praise for Shen Yun
Michael Brandes and Reigna Mujahed attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 18, 2024. Sonia Wu/The Epoch Times

SAN ANTONIO, Texas—After an entire decade of hoping to see Shen Yun Performing Arts, Reina Mujahed, a small business owner, and Michael Brandes, a network engineer, finally got to see the global sensation at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 18.

“They’re awesome,” Ms. Mujahed said. “The dance is really good.”

“It’s amazing,” Mr. Brandes said. “It’s everything that we’ve hoped it was going to be.”

New York-based Shen Yun was founded by leading Chinese artists in 2006. Through authentic classical Chinese dance and music, Shen Yun aims to revive traditional Chinese culture and showcase the beauty and goodness of “China before communism.”

Mr. Brandes was grateful for the opportunity to learn about Chinese culture.

“Anytime you get a chance to see another country’s culture, you should always take the advantage of getting to see it,” he said. “This is probably one of the most amazing shows that I’ve ever seen.”

The vivid colors of Shen Yun’s handmade costumes amazed Ms. Mujahed, who said that the performance made her feel happy and that she would recommend it to her family friends.

“When I go back, I’m going to tell them that it’s great,” she said. “The dances are very good, as I expected, and it’s very entertaining.”

Both Mr. Brandes and Ms. Mujahed also acknowledged the amount of effort put into Shen Yun’s production.
“The effort is incredible,” Mr. Brandes said. “You can tell that they dedicate all of their time to their performance. It shows.”

‘Totally Blown Away’

Frank Samudio attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 18, 2024. (Yeawen Hung/The Epoch Times)
Frank Samudio attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 18, 2024. Yeawen Hung/The Epoch Times
Also in the audience was Frank Samudio, a retired military officer. Mr. Samudio shared that he had seen Shen Yun once before and praised Shen Yun’s all-new 2024 production as “another magnificent performance.”

“What I enjoy the most is the backdrop and all of the different costumes and the color that it (Shen Yun) presents,” Mr. Samudio said. “The dancing is just fabulous, totally fabulous.”

It is worth mentioning that Shen Yun’s patented animated backdrop, which allows performers to move seamlessly between the stage and the background, has been popular among audiences ever since Shen Yun’s inception.

Shen Yun also performs with a live orchestra that combines traditional Chinese and Western instruments. The erhu—a two-stringed Chinese instrument—is not only heard as part of the orchestra but also seen on stage for a solo performance.

“It just blew me away,” Mr. Samudio said of the erhu solo. “What I find is that it’s comforting, it’s relaxing. I enjoy it … I think it’s just a fascinating opportunity to learn a different culture.”

Mr. Samudio also shared that he enjoyed “watching the dancing and the choreography and the abilities of all [the] dancers.” Shen Yun’s name means “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” which Mr. Samudio felt was fitting.

“It’s just totally … divine, it’s very relaxing, and I … was just totally blown away,” he said.

Reporting by Sonia Wu, Yeawen Hung, and Wandi Zhu.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
Related Topics
shen yun
SHARE