DALLAS—A longtime fan of oriental culture, Brent Leavitt, a retired attorney, had never seen classical Chinese dance until he and his wife Susan saw Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Winspear Opera House on Jan. 9.

Mr. Leavitt was impressed with what he saw.

“I thought it was great. I really enjoyed it.”

“Their interpretations and the grace of it—the grace of it all, it was quite beautiful,” he said.

Shen Yun was founded in 2006 with the mission to revive China’s traditional culture through the performing arts. According to Shen Yun’s website, “Throughout history, almost every culture looked toward the divine for inspiration. Art was meant to uplift, bringing joy to both the people who created and experienced it. It is this principle that drives Shen Yun performers and their art.”

Mr. Leavitt appreciated that Shen Yun was able to show spiritual themes.

“I also liked the fact that they were not afraid to express a spiritual message…If this had come right from China, we wouldn’t have had any of that,” he said.

Mrs. Leavitt, a retired librarian, said she found the performance “very expressive, very emotional in the sense of expressing different emotions of humanity.”

“I was very touched by it,” she said.

She particularly enjoyed Shen Yun’s selection of classical Chinese dance, as well as folk and ethnic dances from China’s distinctive ethnic groups.

“The dancing was superb. I just thought it was wonderful,” she said.

One of the characteristics of classical Chinese dance is its ability to express a wide range of emotions, making it especially suited for storytelling.

Mrs. Leavitt said she thought the whole performance was very well crafted.

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

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