‘Welcome to This Magic World’: Theatergoer Says Shen Yun Brings Legends to Life

Apr 01, 2025Shen Yun

ROCKFORD, Ill.—Sitting in the audience of Shen Yun Performing Arts, Felipe Tilca felt transported through time and space as the artists brought to life 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.

“It’s like, ‘Welcome to this magic world,’ so to speak,” said Mr. Tilca, an analyst and manager in artificial intelligence, after seeing Shen Yun at the Coronado Theatre on March 25. “I feel like … I’m living in the actual legend over there.”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance company. Through music and dance, Shen Yun’s mission is to show audiences the beauty of China before communism.

Mr. Tilca said that seeing Shen Yun was amazing, and the artists had brought a “cultural touch” to life that he felt was missing in a lot of places.

“I’m going to tell you, because I’m working with computers and I’m in artificial intelligence, but this is a real thing,” he said.

“It’s a mix of magic, movement, and music. It’s a blend for all this, you know, history and legend come through us, around your eyes. It’s a real thing. It’s not a movie. You can see it, actually, the person brings alive the legends,” he said. “Then the music comes up and it’s like everything explodes.”

Of course, Shen Yun used technology as well, Mr. Tilca said, such as the innovative digital backdrop that required the dancers to be precise down to “a fraction of a second,” but culture and humanity were at the forefront.

“This is technology, of course, but it’s a real thing,” he said.

“I think this kind of shows represent that something is lost, but it’s bringing to life. Next generation needs to see this. We need to keep this alive,” Mr. Tilca said.

“The dynamic is fabulous,” he said. “It’s impressive.”

Reporting by Nancy Ma and Catherine Yang.

From The Epoch Times

NTD is a media sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts, covering audience reactions since 2006.