The 2024 Shen Yun tour is in full swing, and just like that over a month of it has gone by. Most Shen Yun companies have been touring since late December and are now entering the middle part of their schedule. Still, the young season has already supplied plenty of highlights.
In Asia, Shen Yun New York Company is wrapping up its tour of Japan. The company was first to leave home in mid-December and has been performing in Japan for nearly two months, including 11 cities and 42 performances—Shen Yun’s longest Japan tour to date!
“Five years ago, after seeing Shen Yun, I learned a lot, so I came to see it again today and once again feel enlightened,” said martial arts master Tatsuo Takeshima. “Shen Yun performers can rotate their bodies gently as if floating in the air. I know that it’s a high-level skill. It’s really not easy to achieve.”
“The lyrics made people feel the arrival of a new era,” said Miki Kikkawa, executive director of Kikkawa Corporation and chairwoman of the Cultural Heritage Town Development Education Foundation. “The concept of ‘Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance’ will truly guide humanity back, and this message is strongly conveyed.”
Over in Europe, Shen Yun Global Company completed more than a month of performances in Italy. Their Italy run included six cities and 29 shows. From there, the group is continuing on to other parts of Europe, including France and Germany.
“Here I found perfection,” said Milan entrepreneur Paolo Berlusconi, “and then the smiles on the faces of all the performers were a beautiful message. So you come out of this show delighted and comforted.”
In the United Kingdom, Shen Yun also set a new company record by performing in 10 cities. New Era Company brought Shen Yun back to London and Oxford, and also performed for the first-time in several cities, including Milton Keynes and Northampton, where additional shows were added due to demand.
In Birmingham, England, the performance drew a Member of the House of Lords. “I just couldn’t praise it enough. It was simply brilliant,” said Lord Philip Hunt. “A real honor to be here, and really delighted to see such a wonderful production, with of course a very important message.”
Meanwhile, Shen Yun performed in Puerto Rico for the first time, as Touring Company played 6 shows in the capital of San Juan.
University of Puerto Rico Medical School Professor Luis A. Bonilla-Soto was among the thousands in the sold-out performances in Puerto Rico. Every show, the audience applauded enthusiastically nonstop from start to finish, including multiple curtain calls.
“Absolutely beautiful. It touches the deepest fiber of human sensitivity and transports us to a different world,” said Prof. Bonilla-Soto. “This show is out of this world. I feel very honored to be able to come see this show and to be able to enjoy it with my family. I recommend it to anyone who wants to have an experience beyond everyday life.”
The tour has just started, but it already seems to be going by in a flash. Looking ahead to March and April, Shen Yun will be in Paris and Berlin, Sydney and Taipei, Toronto and New York City, among the roughly 200 cities on this year’s tour. Finally, in early May, the world tour will conclude with performances in Rhode Island, Austria, and Brazil.
With the Chinese New Year around the corner, all of us here in Shen Yun want to take this opportunity to wish you a happy Year of the Dragon, and we look forward to seeing you in a theater real soon!
