DETROIT—Sharday Potter’s birthday was two months ago and she had a long wait to receive the present she’d asked for: tickets to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Detroit Opera House.“It’s great, I love it. I love all the colors that are going on. I love the culture that is involved, and the music pieces,” she said.

Sharday was describing her reaction to seeing the premier classical Chinese dance and music company’s last performance in Detroit on Feb. 9.

She attended along with her parents. Dana Potter, Sharday’s mother, agreed with her daughter, mentioning the colors and calling the performance wonderful and spectacular.

Bob Potter, who is a partner in an accounting firm, was glad to get an entertaining introduction to Chinese culture. Shen Yun was completely unlike any other theater experience he’s had—yet very entertaining.

It was the structure of the evening that surprised him. First it was almost all dance: “It’s these little snapshots of different pieces of the Chinese culture rather than just one complete story.

Second, he was surprised that there were comic aspects to the performance. “Like the boy that came out of the meatball, that was even a little comical for us, you know.” This dance explores the birth of the mythical demi-god Ne Zha.

In another program, he felt like participating along with the dancers. “And then I liked the dance, I think it was [In a Yao Village] where they had a little ‘tip tap’ to them which, both she and I were both doing that in our seats too,” he explained.

“Each one is just a little bit different in that regard, so a little story here, a little story there, so its educational and entertaining at the same time,” he said.

After seeing Shen Yun, Mr. Potter had a fuller sense of ancient Chinese culture, especially about it’s the spirituality imbedded therein: “These are just things I wouldn’t have known about the Chinese culture and how they relate to the heavens and reincarnation, finding their way back to the heavens, and things like this. I didn’t know these things, so it’s all interesting.”

Reporting by Joan Wang and Sharon Kilarski

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.