Overall, I enjoyed the performance. The combination of music, story, and dance made for a very unique experience. However, I did notice a few things in the performance that were a little unusual. In particular, I noticed that many of the backdrops featured buildings of a distinctive Japanese style. Many of these buildings had Karahafu, thatch or bark rather than tile roofs, purlins parallel to one another rather than the more typical radial purlins, and unfinished wooden exteriors. While some of these elements can be found in Chinese buildings, they do not represent the quintessential Chinese style and are more indicative of the Japanese style.
During the performance, I was able to follow the backdrops through different time periods nonetheless, but I noted that many of the buildings have out of place elements. For example, even in the Han Dynasty, the roofing of a building as important as a palace would be composed of ceramic tiles, and the exterior decorated with various designs and patterns (usually in red and/or green); and the small and numerous dougong brackets featured on the buildings of the Tang palace did not become commonplace until the Ming and Qing Dynasties (the Tang palace would also have ceramic tile roofing and a painted exterior). The brackets featured on the main hall of the Buddhist temple in "Sweeping Out the Tyrant" were also of a very unusual design, and judging solely by their appearance, I doubt they would be able to support the roof of the building. Shen Yun is about "Reviving 5,000 years of civilization", and as a strong admirer of architecture I believe that Chinese architecture is an indispensable component of Chinese civilization; and that genuine Chinese architecture (rather than the all too common generic east-Asian architecture) is needed for the accurate and wholesome portrayal of Chinese culture.
I also noticed that India, as portrayed in the performance "The Monkey King Thwarts the Evil Toad" seems to be represented by the Islamic Mughal period of Indian history. I thought this was a little silly, as "Journey to the West" (despite being written in its current form during the Ming Dynasty) concerns the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang's quest to acquire Buddhist scriptures - and at a time when Islam hardly existed as a religion. During the time of Xuanzang's pilgrimage (7th century) India would have been mostly Hindu, with a dwindling (though still significant) Buddhist presence. I would prefer that the scene where Xuanzang and Sun Wukong arrive in India feature more Buddhist and Hindu iconography, perhaps with more Dravidian style temples in the background and Gupta period clothing.
I also noticed some minor discrepancies in the clothing styles, but I do not know enough about Chinese clothing myself to identify all the elements of a specific period's clothing style.
Despite the minor inconsistencies I enjoyed the performance. I was particularly impressed by athleticism and vigor of the dancers. In "Ne Zha Churns the Sea", I recall picking up on a duilian which I had seen before called "空手夺枪" being incorporated into the performance. It was quite impressive. I am not sure whether the performer had trained in wushu, or if classical Chinese dance simply shares elements with modern wushu - either way I would love to see more performances like it.
Reese VU SHEN YUN À Omaha (Orpheum Theater), mars 2014