{"id":672283,"date":"2026-01-04T01:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/672283\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T01:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:09:12","slug":"i-have-been-blown-away-shen-yun-delights-birmingham-audience-member-with-ancient-tales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/672283\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Have Been Blown Away\u2019: Shen Yun Delights Birmingham Audience Member With Ancient Tales"},"content":{"rendered":"

BIRMINGHAM, UK\u2014Michael Paul knows a thing or two about the martial arts<\/a> tradition whereby the obedient disciple learns under the guidance of a wise master. So he was elated to see the Monkey King<\/a>\u2014a traditional Chinese martial arts superhero\u2014leaping and tumbling onstage during a classical Chinese dance segment by Shen Yun Performing Arts in Birmingham on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a bit of a martial artist myself,\u201d Paul, a consultant, said after the performance. \u201cThe concept of having the very wise, wise, wise teacher, is something that I can relate to. I think that is something that comes across as key to the story. [The] monkey learns, and then [the] monkey went away and helped people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such ancient myths and morals are retold in fresh ways during Shen Yun<\/a> performances, making them understandable to modern audience members on its global tours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the fact that [Shen Yun] actually told some of the stories in a very accessible way,\u201d Paul said, adding that the Monkey King sparked memories of martial arts TV shows he\u2019d seen years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been blown away,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019ve been really impressed by what I have seen today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ancient stories that Shen Yun retells are further enhanced by high-tech visual special effects during their performances. These include a state-of-the-art\u00a03D-animated backdrop<\/a> that transports audience members to\u00a0the heavens, ancient palaces, or even under the sea.<\/p>\n

But the more traditional visual artistry\u2014the colors, costumes, and dancing\u2014was what stood out most strongly for Charlotte Grimmett, a Birmingham business owner who teaches English online, and who saw the performance on Friday. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this before,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning a lot, and each little story<\/a> is really interesting.\u201d\"Charlotte<\/p>\n

Charlotte Grimmett at Shen Yun at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, UK, on Jan. 2, 2026. NTD<\/p>\n

The dance company, which is based in New York, has a mission<\/a> to revive the traditional, divinely inspired culture of China that was \u201calmost lost\u201d under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Their devotion to traditional culture is partly why Shen Yun isn\u2019t allowed to perform in China today.<\/p>\n

Ms. Grimmett said she was surprised when she heard this, but she soon found out why the company is banned in mainland China. The audience was told during the show that some Shen Yun dancers are American-born Chinese or expatriots who fled China to escape religious persecution. One piece depicted Falun Gong believers being attacked by agents of the CCP.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little bit taken aback,\u201d Ms. Grimmett said. \u201cIt was something I didn\u2019t know about, so, yes, I\u2019m keen to learn more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rohit<\/p>\n

Rohit Sujanani at a Shen Yun performance at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, on Jan. 2, 2026. NTD<\/p>\n

Unlike in modern performances in China today, the spiritual content from ancient China is an important part of Shen Yun. The devotion to a higher power connected strongly with Rohit Sujanani, a company director who watched Shen Yun on Friday. \u201cI loved it,\u201d he said, adding that references to spiritual figures were a highlight for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reference of the flying monkey to the spiritual teacher, I loved that very much,\u201d Mr. Sujanani said, adding that he wasn\u2019t surprised that Shen Yun\u2019s dancers are themselves spiritual believers<\/a>. \u201cThe performance arts are a major, major expression of divine teachings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reporting by NTD and Michael Wing.<\/p>\n

NTD is a media sponsor of\u00a0Shen Yun Performing Arts, covering\u00a0audience reactions\u00a0since 2006.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BIRMINGHAM, UK\u2014Michael Paul knows a thing or two about the martial arts tradition whereby the obedient disciple learns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-672283","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115834163427969014","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}