Mr. Episale, a data architect for IBM, and Mrs. Episale, an elementary instructional assistant, enjoyed their first time seeing Shen Yun. Mr. Episale said, “It’s very beautiful, powerful. It’s full of emotions, so it’s alive.”

Mrs. Episale thought some of the stories were “really tough and [yet] fantastic to watch. Every story, every dance is such a different emotion.”

She said there were moments when it was difficult to get into the next dance, “because I still felt that power and that sadness of the previous number.”

Mr. Episale said, “It’s kind of like a rollercoaster ride. How they displayed [the stories] is very, very beautiful—immerses you in the actual scene.”

He said the classical Chinese dance was “very freeing, and open and airy. Very celestial.”

Mrs. Episale liked how each performance was portrayed: “I think it’s just very, very educational. And we don’t get to experience that very often. So this is a wonderful opportunity to put that in front of us so that we can what it was like.”