Shen Yun Kicks Off Largest Season Yet; 8 Companies Set to Cover 180 Cities

The first Houston performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts on Dec. 26 at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. (The Epoch Times)

By Catherine Yang

Catherine Yang

Catherine Yang has been with The Epoch Times in New York since 2008. She also launched and previously served as chief editor of American Essence magazine and Epoch Health.

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December 26, 2022Updated: December 28, 2022

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ATLANTA—Celena Brown, an Atlanta entrepreneur and business owner, was among the first to see the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2023 world premiere.

Sitting front and center, Brown said she had the opportunity to witness each and every movement, and dubbed the experience a magical one.

“It is a very impressive show, impressive talent,” she said. “The performers are incredible. They are clearly dedicated to this art, and with many many thousands of hours, clearly. They are very beautiful.

“I love the traditional dance, the movement, the traditional dress, the stories of the divine, and how the divine has supported humanity, that we are here as humans to save all life.

“I think it was perfect. A perfect story for the beauty of divine beings dancing.”

She urged others to see Shen Yun for themselves and “to allow it to resonate, to relax while you’re watching it, to become the art, to let the art become you. To let the story become a part of us.”

Epoch Times Photo — Entrepreneur Celena Brown saw the world premiere of Shen Yun 2023 with her daughter at the Atlanta Symphony Hall, on Dec. 24, 2022. (NTD Television)

The Shen Yun 2023 season will be its biggest yet, with its eight equally sized touring companies set to visit more than 180 cities across five continents.

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance and music company, and has in recent years set a new bar for the art form internationally.

Formed in 2006 by artists who had left China in pursuit of freedom of belief, Shen Yun developed into a global sensation in just about a half dozen years. According to Shen Yun, its mission is to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, showcasing the beauty of China before communism through music and dance. Through its performances, millions have witnessed authentic traditional Chinese culture.

The season began in Atlanta on Christmas Eve. Tickets had sold out, and demand was so high that additional seats had to be opened at the last minute to accommodate extra audience members.

The 2022 season was Shen Yun’s longest-running and most unusual, with extra shows to make up for a 2020 season cut short by the pandemic. It was also one of the first performing arts companies to return to performance after lockdowns, and the first to tour internationally so widely. Reviews about Shen Yun and how the performance was returning hope to audiences worldwide flooded in from all corners of the world, as reported by The Epoch Times. This season will run through May 2023, lasting nearly half a year.

‘A Spiritual Battle’

The name “Shen Yun” translates into “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”

EY Consulting Partner Hélcio Bueno and his wife and young daughter were among the first to see Shen Yun’s new show.

“It’s different and beautiful to see and enjoy,” said Bueno, who’s head of finance, control, and business transactions for EY’s consulting practice in Brazil. He appreciated the glimpse of what was once called the Celestial Empire, a China whose culture was believed to be divinely inspired. The cultural differences both entertained and educated, and, at the end of the day, hit on something shared and universal, according to Bueno.

“We always believe in something that’s above what’s on earth, right? That’s something that is similar in every culture,” he said.

Lisle Cormier, also in the audience, similarly shared that what resonated most was the universal values presented through music and dance.

“[The song] talked about heaven, the Creator, and that one day we will all be back in heaven, that we’ll be persecuted before that and we have a battle to fight here on earth until we go back into heaven,” he said. “There were figures in the production that may have resembled divine beings.

“I think it’s saying that there’s a spiritual battle that we have to be aware of; most people are not aware of it. We can ignore it, but we’re still going to be part of it, I think; and also, great things can come through suffering. We can’t avoid it necessarily, but through our suffering, we can be honed and purified and made more ready for what’s to come.”

A horn player himself, Cormier sang the praises of Shen Yun’s orchestra, which seamlessly blends ancient Chinese instruments into the ensemble, and spoke highly of the production value.

“It was spectacular. I really thought the cinematography was quite remarkable,” he said, referring to Shen Yun’s patented backdrop technology. “And it looks like a lot of the dancers had never heard of Sir Isaac Newton, they got so high in the air and stayed there! It was quite amazing.

“This is just the beginning—there are lots of opportunities to go see it where you are.”

‘Message of Hope’

Titus Gambrell, a retired health executive, said he saw in Shen Yun “a message of hope.”

“A little unanticipated, but it touches a lot of the senses—the visual, the sound, … and the spirit,” he said. “To me, it stimulates all of that. It also compelled me to have a broader understanding of the Chinese spiritual experience as well.”

He said the performance connected him with a spirit that transcends religious divides.

“I think it’s what I’m seeing, feeling, it does touch deep within one’s spirit, which is the soul,” Gambrell said. “[It’s a] message of hope and love and oneness.”

Strong Start to the Season

That same day, on Dec. 24, another of Shen Yun’s touring groups landed in Narita, Japan. The day after Christmas would be the first of Shen Yun’s performances in Asia.

On Dec. 26, the Shen Yun World Company took the stage at the J:COM Hall Hachioji theater in Japan. Two more performances took place in Atlanta. The Shen Yun International Company opened in Houston with two shows at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. The Shen Yun New Era Company performed in San Jose, California. On Dec. 28, Shen Yun Global Company opened on a third continent, in Berlin.

This year, Shen Yun is returning to New Zealand after a few years’ hiatus, making its debut in the Dominican Republic, and visiting Israel and Brazil for only the second time. The number of European shows is nearly twice that of last season, with shows in France intermittently from February to May.

Shen Yun‘s eighth company, its newest, was added just this season.

Reporting by NTD Television, Frank Liang, and Roland Ree.

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