OKLAHOMA CITY—Scott Scammahorn, a nurse, and Karrie Meeks, a clinical trial coordinator, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater on April 21.

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists and quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Now, with eight equally sized companies that tour the world simultaneously, Shen Yun is on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and the beauty of China before communism.

Shen Yun’s program includes story-based dances, some of which are set in modern-day China and depict the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of people of faith. Mr. Scammahorn and Ms. Meeks both said it was great to see what pre-communist China looked like, and the comparison between ancient China and the issues occurring in modern China.

“I like the history, [and] also that it goes back to the past China, to the present, and to the [current] struggles,” said Ms. Meeks.

Ms. Meeks added that what she saw from Shen Yun’s performance was that “the youth of today are going to make change, they’re fighting for change” and that there will be good changes in China in the future.

Mr. Scammahorn and Ms. Meeks had encouraging words for the performers as well.

“The hope is for the future, for the youth to make change, make the positive change,” said Ms. Meeks.

“I think it’s very neat to find out that there’s eight different performances that are going on simultaneously around the world,” said Mr. Scammahorn. “It’s fantastic. I would say keep it up. Bring as many people in to see the show as you can.”

Reporting by Sherry Dong and Wandi Zhu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.