Hey Lisa, I believe you are spot on.... I was kind of weirded out about the religious overtones.... The two 'announcers' (a handsome white man who spoke both english and chinese, and a pretty chinese woman who spoke both E&C) would come on stage between each dance and explain what we would see next...... they had the audience learning how to speak 'chinese'/ mandarin and pronouncing 'Shen yun' and explaining:
Shen (神) is a general term for divine being, indicating the myriad deities, Buddhas, and Taoist immortals in Chinese spiritual traditions. Yun (韻) means rhythm and conveys a person's entire bearing. ... That's the meaning of the name Shen Yun.
So, yes, it was a tiny bit weird,(not so weird I could not enjoy the dancing) I started to feel like I was at a 'recruitment' in a sort of ways.... but I resisted! haha! My husband enjoyed the comparison of religion, and he said it reminded him of the Mormon religion (where they think they return to heaven and become 'gods') and from that angle it was interesting.