PARIS—New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has reached the final stages of a lengthy tour of France, which began in early January and included a total of 88 performances in the Hexagone. Having performed in a dozen French cities, from Aix-en-Provence to Amnéville, via Nantes and Bordeaux, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company is now in Paris until the end of its world tour on May 11.

“I thought it was fabulous, incredible!” said Liz Laurent, interior architect and designer, after seeing Shen Yun the Palais des Congrès in Paris on Wednesday, April 16.

Mrs. Laurent noted Shen Yun’s “very beautiful sets,” pointing out that she is “quite sensitive to architecture,” then “the lights, the lighting and also the costumes, the beauty of the dancers.”

Describing the level of the dancers as “incredible,” she saw a “finesse of gestures” and felt a lot of “emotion, energy, and a beautiful dynamic.”

Ms. Laurent was accompanied by company manager Emmanuel Gauthier. “It was a very fine show,” he said, “a very fine performance.

“The sets are beautiful, the costumes are gorgeous and the dancers are stunning,” he added. Mr. Gauthier noted that there was “a lot of precision and synchronization in the gestures,” finding this aspect “particularly noteworthy.”

“We go into the imaginary, into dreams, and into history, the stories of the different regions of China, the different dances typical of China. So it’s culturally very interesting,” he said.

However, Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in China, as the Chinese Communist Party considers the show a threat to its power, as the company denounces human rights violations perpetrated by the regime.

“There’s a whole history, a whole context that puts an emotion around dance and a whole framework around China,” Mr. Gauthier said. “Five thousand years of history, that says it all. That’s it. Very beautiful.”

Ms. Laurent said she felt the kindness emanating from the dancers, creating “a beautiful harmony.” She explained that this benevolence comes from the fact that “the dancers also all work together.”

The Shen Yun company, which was founded in 2006 in New York, brings together the elite of classical Chinese dance. The non-profit company has grown from one to eight companies of equivalent size, performing in dozens of cities every year. This year, Shen Yun stops in over 20 countries.

According to Ms. Laurent, Shen Yun can bring beautiful values to the contemporary world.

“It should be truly international. It would be great if everyone could connect with [Shen Yun’s] world,” Ms. Laurent said.

Company director Jean Dufour also attended the first Paris performance of Shen Yun’s 2025 tour at the Palais des Congrès. He thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

“It’s harmonious, it’s graceful, and it’s what I expected,” he said.

During the performance, Mr. Dufour felt “peace, serenity, beauty, then love, lots of love.”

Right after the performance, he said his feeling was “serenity right now, the energy might come later!”

While he was still “digesting” everything he had received during his two hours in the company of Shen Yun’s artists, this company director said he also sensed a clear message.

“I get it. The message is the beginning, the end, and a renewal, and what’s next. That’s it. It makes you wonder, it makes you wonder,” Mr. Dufour said.

“In these, shall we say, very difficult times, it gives us hope,” he added.

As a Frenchman whose father was “a true traditional Chinese,” Han Chong Yang appreciated the fact that Shen Yun brings traditional Chinese culture to life on stage. On Wednesday, April 16, he came to see the show for his second time, accompanied by a friend.

For the former performer, the artistic level of the performers is simply “excellent, really top-notch.” He added again, “Really top-notch!”

“Very happy, very happy,” to have witnessed such an experience, Mr. Han said he felt “really good” while watching Shen Yun.

“It’s really a beautiful show and you feel really good when you watch it,” he said.

Many of the numbers in Shen Yun speak of the importance of preserving tradition, he thought. Indeed, it has been the company’s mission since its inception to revive China’s almost-lost traditional culture.

“I’m very, very fond of tradition,” said the 80-year-old Mr. Han. In the modern world, “we mustn’t let [man] forget where he comes from. If he loses his roots, he’s finished.”