NEW YORK—Lucia Barata, filmmaker and artist thought Shen Yun Performing Arts was “absolutely perfect.”

“The colors are amazing,” said Ms. Barata, adding that the costumes are fantastic.

Ms. Barata watched the closing performance of Shen Yun’s 11-show run at New York’s Lincoln Center on April 28.

New York-based Shen Yun came together in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture with dance, music, costumes, and a digitally animated backdrop.

Classical Chinese dance, a form of dance that enables very expressive dance pieces, is at the heart of Shen Yun performances. In addition to classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance (such as Mongolian and Tibetan dances), and story-based dance, are part of a comprehensive system of Chinese dance.

With respect to the dancing, Ms. Barata was very happy with the performance. “I think it’s amazing.”

“They are absolutely perfect,” she added.

Shen Yun dancers are adorned in brilliant, colorful, handmade costumes. A digital backdrop built with state-of-the-art graphics technology acts as a window into a new realm, enhancing the story element of the dances.

An orchestra that combines East and West find harmony by allowing the Western philharmonic orchestra to play the foundation, while the Chinese instruments lead the melodies.

Ms. Barata said Shen Yun expresses hope for the Chinese people, who currently cannot enjoy traditional Chinese culture under Communist Party rule.

“I hope that [Shen Yun] is the hope Chinese people have for the future, and that they can bring it to the world,” she said.

Susan Certoma, President of Wealth and Brokerage Processing Solutions at Broadridge who also saw the performance on Sunday, was inspired by the presentation of traditional Chinese culture.

“Just in terms of the depth of the history, the culture that’s behind it, the storytelling through the dance. It has motivated me to learn much more about it,” she said.

This year’s performance features 22 different pieces as well as traditional songs. “In less than 10 minutes each, Shen Yun dances recount ancient myths, bygone heroes, or celestial paradises,” according to the Shen Yun website.

For Ms. Certoma, however, Shen Yun had even more to offer than just learning about history.

“It has a feeling of wanting to learn and wanting to go deeper and finding out if there’s more in life than the world we live in every day.”

Reporting by NTD Television and Valentin Schmid

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. The next performances in the northeastern United States are in Philadelphia May 3-5. 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.