Larry Tomczak, a Christian journalist and author, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts’ final show of the 2025 season at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts on May 11. It was his first time seeing the performance, and he described the matinee as “just been outstanding.”
“On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it an 11. You can see the discipline and the training and the hard work. It’s wholesome. It’s clean. It’s not offensive in any way.” Mr. Tomczak praised.
“There’s a lot of entertainment today that people just justify anything—blasphemy, profanity, nudity. But this is so pure and lovely for children, for adults. All I can say is just outstanding. Way to go, everything.”
As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, China’s 5,000 years of history are filled with breathtaking legends and rich traditions. Yet, within just a few decades of the Chinese communists’ rise to power, this magnificent culture was destroyed.
The spread of atheism quickly eradicated the Chinese people’s belief in the divine. The cherished virtues and values learned from the teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism disappeared overnight.
Today, the New York-based Shen Yun is working to revive this lost civilization and bring back to the world through dance and music, the beauty of pre-communist China.
Mr. Tomczak also loved the company’s use of 3D animated backdrop to collaborate with the performers onstage to enhance storytelling.
“The use of the video, the creativity, and the precision, the accuracy, how there’s change and transition—it’s just jaw-dropping, mind-boggling. … That took so much work that I just commend all the people.”
Reflecting on the story-based dance that raised awareness about ongoing human rights issues in present-day China, Mr. Tomczak—a devout Christian involved in missionary work—said he understands firsthand the persecution that people of faith face there.
He agrees wholeheartedly with Shen Yun performers’ mission to bring back divinity and traditional culture.
“People want to be free to express their freedom and to celebrate God, their Creator. Unfortunately, we have regimes that take control, and they’re tyrannical and you don’t dare exert any words or statements that would contradict what they want said to the people,” he expressed.
“Every single segment of [Shen Yun] has been outstanding. Really, very good. If I could talk to the [performers,] I would say, ‘Congratulations. Not just on a job well done, but with excellence that honors our Creator. I mean that.’”