SACRAMENTO, Calif.—“You feel elevated, like it’s a celestial world,” said retired business owner Lena Smith watching Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Sacramento Community Center Theater, Jan. 15.

Mrs. Smith and her husband Mike, who both retired from running a real estate accounting firm, attended the performance Wednesday afternoon and praised the cultural significance of New York-based Shen Yun.

Mr. Smith said watching the performance he felt uplifted by the “graceful[ness], the fluidity, beautiful colors—when you see it your mind [is] picked up by the grace and the fluidity of it.”

Shen Yun revives 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through the universal languages of music and dance. The traditional Chinese culture was said to be inspired by the heavens, but once nearly lost under the current regime in China. 

The Cultural Revolution in China, Mr. Smith said, was really cultural destruction. “It destroys the culture,” Mr. Smith said. He went on to mention how Shen Yun and Falun Gong are bringing the traditional culture back, and that he greatly appreciated that.

“They’re resurrecting it,” Mrs. Smith said. 

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation discipline that has been persecuted in China since 1999. The group practices truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, as shown in one of Shen Yun’s mini-dramas.

Seeing the stories of traditional Chinese culture being brought from the ancient time to today, Mrs. Smith said, “That was touching; it brought you back to reality.”

The persecution is a serious topic, Mrs. Smith said, but Shen Yun had integrated it artistically in a good way. Mr. Smith said it was the smart way to do it.

“With the cultural things you can lift up everybody, instead of fighting with weapons,” Mr. Smith said.

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.