LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas—Herren C. Hickingbotham was in attendance for Shen Yun Performing Arts at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Music Hall on Jan. 2.

“It was amazing. The talent was just overwhelming,” Mr. Hickingbotham said.

Mr. Hickingbotham, principal of Hickingbotham Investments Inc., is a man of considerable influence. As recognition for his striving to make a difference while serving others, he was voted one of Arkansas’s “Powerful Men 2012” by AY Magazine.

As well as being a philanthropist, his family business, Hickingbotham Family Limited Partnership, owns several automobile franchises including Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, and others.

“The choreography, the costumes, and the orchestra and the music was phenomenal,” he said.

“A Shen Yun performance features the world’s foremost classically trained dancers, a unique orchestra blending East and West, and dazzling animated backdrops—together creating one spectacular performance,” reads Shen Yun’s website.

Through its unique mixture of music and dance, Shen Yun seeks to revive 5,000 years of nearly lost traditional Chinese culture. Its stunning beauty and tremendous energy leave audiences uplifted and inspired.

Such energy was not lost upon Mr. Hickingbotham, who said that he was impressed by the performance’s costumes, culture, and history, but most of all by the music and live orchestra.

“Oh, they were amazing,” he said of the orchestra. “So talented.”

Shen Yun’s orchestra combines the spirit and beauty of Chinese music with the grandeur and precision of a Western Orchestra. Audiences are in for something truly musically memorable at each Shen Yun performance.

“They were hand-in-hand with the performers,” he added, “but they made the show.”

Reporting by Teresa You and Michael Fitzgerald

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.