PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Retired hospital vice president Margaret Minnick and her husband Bill, a retired hospital director, delighted in Shen Yun’s evening performance at the Providence Performing Arts Center on May 11.

“It’s very interesting [to see] the genesis of the beginning of [Chinese culture] to the more current times and the history,” Mr. Minnick expressed after the show.

“Of course, the classical dancing and the colors were fabulous. The performers themselves were just mind-boggling.”

He loved the “expressiveness of the dancers’ movements.”

According to the company’s website, the classical Chinese dance we see in China today is heavily mixed with military and modern dance styles. Only at Shen Yun can you find it performed in its purest form—the way it was originally passed down through the generations.

Mrs. Minnick, too, thought “the whole show was beautiful.” She was very happy to have gotten to know traditional Chinese culture through dance and she said she appreciated that “there’s so many shows going on at the same time, all over the world.”

“I knew the show was very popular, and I knew lots of people were going to see it, and everybody seemed to have liked it but didn’t know what it was about. So, this was very informative for me and entertaining at the same time. [The artists] did their job.”

As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, China’s 5,000 years of history is filled with breathtaking legends and rich traditions. Yet, within just a few decades of the Chinese communists’ rise to power, this magnificent culture was completely destroyed.

The spread of atheism quickly eradicated Chinese people’s belief in the divine. The cherished virtues and values learned from the teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism disappeared overnight.

What Mr. Minnick hadn’t expected to see in Shen Yun was the comedic side of Chinese culture and personality.

“You sort of think of the Chinese as not forthcoming, reserved, and conservative—but I guess when they’re among themselves they’re much more outgoing—which we don’t get to see.”

“It’s unfortunate that cultures clash because of too much politics,” he lamented.

Moreover, Mrs. Minnick loved the solo performance by the Chinese erhu, a 4,000-year-old Chinese instrument that mimics the human voice. Though it only has two strings, it is capable of expressing a wide range of emotions, resonating with the profound depths of the human soul.

“It blew me away. Really beautiful,” she exclaimed.

Given the chance, Mrs. Minnick would like to thank all of Shen Yun’s performers “for portraying your culture in such beautiful dance and music. Nice show and very nice job.”