FORT MYERS, Fla.— Graphic designer Meryl Ouelette admired what she called “phenomenal workmanship” in Shen Yun at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on Feb 10. She also found the Shen Yun Performance touching. “It’s moving. It’s moving, it touches a part of you, and you think, interesting,” Ms. Ouelette said.

Speaking as a designer, she said she thought the animated digital backdrops were extraordinary. Ms. Ouelette had read informational material prior to the performance and wondered how the staging would be done.

“I said ‘Wow, they’ve got a lot of set changes here. I wonder how they’re going to handle that?’ So it’s been really great to see these backdrops and the characters come to life, it seemed very well executed: excellent show.”

Paul Ouelette, who works in real estate, and is also a writer, said, “We’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s a good show.”

Ms. Ouelette found that classical Chinese dance intrigued her. “I didn’t realize that this type of dance was in the Chinese culture, I had no idea, it’s very intricate, fascinating,” she said. The mission of Shen Yun is to revive traditional Chinese civilization and share it with the world.

‘It was a mix of reality and dreams’

Linda Beauregard and Gwen Morales enjoy Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall on Feb 10. (Edie Bassen/Epoch Times)

Gwen Morales, semi-retired from occupational therapy, and Linda Beauregard, former president of a travel company, saw Shen Yun together,

For Ms. Morales, Shen Yun was out of this world.

“It was like dreaming. It was a mix of reality and dreams, as they would step into the digital world. It was light, beautiful, hopeful, elegant. It was amazing. I appreciate it,” she said.

Ms. Beauregard said Shen Yun broadened her horizons. She loves to see live theatre and music, and Shen Yun was different. “So this was stepping out of the box for me and learning about another culture in such a beautiful fashion. It was just, in a word, ‘fantastic’. I loved it.”

She now has a better understanding of the Chinese culture and was pleased to think the Shen Yun had exceeded her expectations.

Ms. Beauregard said she appreciated universal themes in the songs. “It sounds like they been through, you know, a lot of war and hard times and now they’re hopeful for the future, basically, and we all can take that to heart. That we all may have had some hard times but there is something bigger than that … in a spiritual sense.”

Ms. Morales also responded to the deeper themes, and said, “Tolerance and compassion are king, and when we all have that for one another, and for each culture, it doesn’t matter what religion we practice as long as we have that tolerance, compassion, and we allow people to do what they want to do,” she said.

Ms. Morales said she would urge others to see Shen Yun. “It’s a fantastic show. It’s just beautiful and delightful, graceful.”

Reporting by Marie Yeung, Edie Bassen and Raiatea Tahana-Reese

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.