DAYTON, Ohio—“I loved it!” said Cynthia Semones. “It was a very beautiful, gay, and light.” Ms. Semones had just seen Shen Yun Performing Arts at Dayton’s Mead Theatre. The registered nurse attended the traditional Chinese music and dance program on Feb. 25 with Allan Chestnut.

“Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture,” is written on Shen Yun’s website.

Shen Yun presents 20 dances and soloist performances in each of its short programs.

Mr. Chestnut, Ph.D., P.A.S. who is a livestock nutritionist at Provimi North America, Inc., agreed completely. He especially enjoyed the backdrops behind the dancers, which depict China’s different geography and regions. Some of them reminded him of landscapes he had seen there on a recent visit.

Even more striking to Mr. Chestnut was the spirituality of the program. “There were several spiritual descriptions of life and God reaching down to Earth and his connection with people on Earth that I liked very much.”

In a similar vein, the one dance Ms. Semones found most interesting was a piece that depicted the current persecution of people of faith in China by the communist regime.

Mr. Chestnut felt that he understood what the oppressed people were feeling and saw that in addition “there is a spiritual source of life that helps us overcome the human oppression that’s on Earth.”

In this he saw a parallel between his own faith and spiritual aspects of the performance.

“I would agree with Allan,” Ms. Semones said. “I thought the spiritual aspect was very dramatic and uplifting, especially all the colors and all the lights.”

She explained that for her light represents god, “so there was just a lot of light and gold and …, sunshine.”

The colors seemed full of light as well. “I loved when they had the long sashes and doing all the twirls. It was just so uplifting and gay. It just made me smile,” she said.

Reporting by Ying Yan and Sharon Kilarski

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

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.