Shen Yun Performing Arts

Shen Yun Performing Arts, a nonprofit organization based in New York, is proudly the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. The company’s members are mostly ethnic Chinese who grew up in the West. And Shen Yun’s mission is to revive the spirit of traditional Chinese culture.

But how did Shen Yun evolve, in just four years, from a few passionate artists to a company that now features three dance ensembles and three orchestras that simultaneously tour the globe?


Shen Yun’s story begins with a talented group of artists in the Chinese diaspora and a shared vision of cultural renewal. Many of these choreographers and composers, dancers and singers had previously joined forces in smaller scale productions. However, they wanted to take their vision to the next level. And so in New York in 2006, they united with the explicit mission of reviving traditional Chinese culture.

Over the past 60-plus years under Chinese Communist Party rule - and especially during campaigns such as the Cultural Revolution—much of China’s traditional culture has been destroyed. But China has a 5,000-year history steeped in rich values and the idea that humanity and the divine are intertwined. This idea is built right into the name "Shen Yun," which in context translates as “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”

At a time when the influence of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism was strong in the Middle Kingdom, art was a means of connecting with the higher universe. Artists cultivated virtue and engaged in study and meditation, because they believed that to create true art worthy of the heavens, there must first be inner beauty and purity. Today, Shen Yun’s artists follow in this noble tradition.

Among the company’s artists are members from renowned ensembles and music schools, and winners of international singing and dance competitions.

Shen Yun’s accomplished choreographers aim to present classical Chinese dance, an art form still new to the West, in its purest and most beautiful form.

Shen Yun’s first season, 2007, saw a production by one company comprised of over 90 artists—including a dance ensemble, full orchestra, and soloists. In just three years since, Shen Yun has expanded to three full companies, totaling hundreds of performers.

Shen Yun’s growth has allowed the company to perform far and wide. This past 2010 season, for example, audiences in the United States, Australia, and Turkey enjoyed Shen Yun performances all at the same time.