WASHINGTON—Mr. John Fenstermaker, president and CEO of a management consulting firm in Washington D.C., attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts evening performance hosted by Washington’s Kennedy Center Opera House on January 25.

The Shen Yun performance was “very beautiful, and very picturesque,” said Mr. Fenstermaker. “The performance was very jubilant. It was a very enlightening performance.”

According to the New York-based Shen Yun website, “Shen Yun presents colorful and exhilarating performances of classical Chinese dance and music. A performance by Shen Yun is a presentation of traditional Chinese culture as it once was: a study in grace, wisdom, and the virtues distilled from the five millennia of Chinese civilization.”

Mr. Fenstermaker agreed, saying, ‘The costumes were nice, especially because of the lovely colors.”

He also said that he learned a lot about the history of Chinese culture. In his eyes, “China’s culture lives through dance and song. This appears to be the way of expressing their history.”

“I did learn a lot about Chinese people. I understand that many Chinese want the country go in the opposite direction from where it is right now.”

“Over its past 60 years of rule, the communist regime has treated traditional Chinese values, centered on the idea of harmony between heaven and earth, as a threat to its existence. And in its systematic campaigns like the Cultural Revolution, it has uprooted traditional beliefs and destroyed ancient treasures, bringing traditional 5,000 years of civilization to the brink of extinction,” according to the Shen Yun website.

“I think the Chinese culture currently is suppressed. The communication, the belief that people want to have is suppressed by the communist government,” he said, adding that it was nice to see the openness this performance afforded China.

In sum, Mr. Fenstermaker enjoyed Shen Yun. “I think I’d like to come back and see it again.”

Reporting by NTD Television and Heide B. Malhotra

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.