RALEIGH, N.C.–Shen Yun Performing Arts opened its first of two shows in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. on January 27, 2015 at Duke Energy Center For The Performing Arts. The depth and beauty of traditional Chinese culture were on full display in their full splendor live on stage, touching the audience members who attended.

Diana Braun and Susan Tenney, both real estate brokers, along with Kathleen Jackson, an advertising director, were on a special ladies’ night out. After the performance, the ladies were astounded by what they witnessed.

“It exceeded my expectations. The dancers, the musicians, the orchestra, all of it. I thought it was phenomenal. Everybody can understand the story. You don’t need words. I just thought it was fabulous. [It] really touched my heart,” said Ms. Jackson.

Ms. Braun agreed and said that Shen Yun music and dance indeed spoke across all languages.

Ms. Tenney was astounded by the performance and was especially captivated by the state-of-the-art graphics technology used in the animated backdrops and how it interacted with the performers.

“It was just pure joy and the costumes being brilliant. And the lightness of the dancers, it just seemed like they were floating. And the expressions of the dancers just made the story come into [being] real,” she said.

Ms. Braun said she actually had been following Shen Yun and its coming to Raleigh. She told her friends “you would be amazed” when she asked them to come see Shen Yun together.

“We just enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a wonderful ladies night out,” she said.

The ladies were also touched by the deeper spirituality in the performance.

Ms. Jackson said, “You could feel the love, you could feel the joy, you could feel the sense of humor in the program. You could feel all the emotions that they were trying to get out there.”

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the message of peace, and love, and joy went to all these other cities?” she added.

Ms. Tenney appreciated how Shen Yun, through story-dance, told of the persecution in China of practitioners of the Falun Dafa spiritual practice.

“I love being educated on how the restrictions in China are being able to be expressed worldwide. I love the platform for the opportunity to have some truth about the story. And I wish them well,” she said.

Ms. Braun added, “I love the message with the tolerance. If we were more accepting and tolerant in the world, what a better place this place would be.”

‘I definitely got a sense’ of the history

On a different kind of night out were husband and wife Elroy Bethell and Monique Bethell, both professors at local colleges in the area.

Both were captivated by all the elements in the Shen Yun performance.

Mrs. Bethell said, “I think it is beautiful, the music is amazing, the costumes are fabulous, I love the colors, the dancing is incredible, the choreography, I truly, truly enjoy the scenery and the stories … it was amazing.”

Mr. Bethell said it was brilliant how he could see the stories unfold on the animated digital backdrops. He called the choreography excellent.

Mrs. Bethell was able to sense the depth of 5,000 years of Chinese culture that was being brought to life on stage by Shen Yun.

“I definitely got a sense that the history runs very deep and that there’s a very strong appreciation for it and that the women have very wonderful silhouettes and that the men try to be protectors. But there’s a lot of symbolism with the dragons and the tigers,” she added.

Like many in the audience, Mrs. Bethell was moved by the piece about Falun Dafa practitioners in China.

“I love the compassion, the Falun Dafa. I loved that one. It was very, very moving,” she said.

“I think it’s a hidden treasure that the world needs to see”, said Mr. Bethell.

Reporting by NTD Television and Thai Ton

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

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.