NEW ORLEANS—New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts impressed its audience with an exhilarating performance of classical Chinese dance at the Saenger Theatre, on Feb. 19.

Among the audience members were Allen Mitchell, who runs a social services company, and his friends Brenda Higgins and her husband, Edward Higgins, a ship’s captain.

“The show’s delightful and peaceful and kind; tranquil; I hope the whole world gets this message of the peace of the people of China … the kindness of the people, very beautiful,” he said.

“Shen Yun’s goal is to revive the authentic and original manifestation of traditional Chinese culture and art,” the Shen Yun website states. “On stage, Shen Yun performances bring back these traditional values that have sustained and created cultural expression for so many generations.”

“This is very enjoyable, a delightful, colorful, coordinated and happy performance,” Mr. Mitchell said. They “do very well; … and everyone seems very skilled; beyond my belief.”

Mr. Mitchell works with the disabled, the elderly, and people with autism. He said a video or televised recording of a Shen Yun Performance would make them happy.

He said that however it could be spread it should be. He considered it “above and beyond the thought of the imagination” and complimented Shen Yun on its excellence.

Mr. and Mrs. Higgins were of the same mind. “Yes, exactly,” said Russian-born Mrs. Higgins. “I think it’s lovely; beautiful; beautiful dancers.”

Mr. Higgins said the story told through the dances were “mesmerizing” and that they had left “a lasting impression of peace and harmony,” he said.

He was also deeply impressed with the array of color, the music, and the choreography.

As a ship’s captain, Mr. Higgins had been to Hong Kong and many other places in the world and said it was a shame Shen Yun “can’t show their talent to the people of China.”

“The mere representation of this lost heritage and its virtues immediately, by way of contrast, unmasks the Party and its ideology of struggle. This is why the Communist Party fears Shen Yun, and why this kind of performance cannot be seen in China today,” states the website.

Mrs Higgins hoped that Shen Yun would return next year to New Orleans.

Reporting by NTD Television and Raiatea Tahana-Reese

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.