BOSTON—Shen Yun Performing Arts brought out a side of China and the performing arts rarely seen, said Sean Slater, senior project manager at Fidelity, after seeing a performance with his wife at the Citi Wang Theatre, Feb. 28.

“We like the celestial piece of it,” Mr. Slater said. “You don’t usually see that, especially the spiritual side.”

New York-based Shen Yun was established in 2006 to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through the performing arts. The traditional culture, said to be divinely inspired, was once almost lost under years of communist rule.

Mr. Slater said he enjoyed the way Shen Yun blended and portrayed the history and culture of China in a way that made him feel peace.

“It’s a positive energy,” Mr. Slater said.

Mrs. Slater agreed. “Very peaceful—you just get a calming sense,” she said of the experience.

Mr. Slater noted that the backdrop was animated, and that Shen Yun had extended the storytelling of the traditional Chinese dance using it.

“They blend the history and tell a story out of it, and the dance and visuals—they just mesh. They don’t contradict each other,” Mr. Slater said. “Never seen anything like this.”

A Marvel

Mr. Leighton Detora, a founding partner of a law firm in Northern Vermont, had seen Shen Yun advertised in a newspaper and took the opportunity to see a performance on his weekend in Boston with his wife.

“The costuming, the athleticism, the soloist, the pianist was marvelous,” Mr. Detora said.

Shen Yun was Mr. Detora’s first experience with traditional Chinese culture, and he couldn’t be happier with the performance. “It’s so different, and it’s always nice to expand your frame of reference,” Mr. Detora said.

The stories Shen Yun told, from excerpts of Journey to the West to ones set in China today, were a highlight for Mr. Detora because the spirituality of the culture came through.

“You’re triumphing over evil,” Mr. Detora explained. “The whole idea of the sentient beings ... and the idea that there is some grand energy up there.”

Reporting by Kerry Huang and Catherine Yang

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.