“It’s so emotional, and you feel things you never thought you would feel watching this show. … I’ve never been to China. I’ve never been to Asia. But despite that, watching the show makes me want to go there,” she said at the Detroit Opera House on Jan. 22, 2020.

Shen Yun traces that understanding of a spiritual connection through 5,000 years of China’s civilization, from when deities first bestowed cultural blessings on humankind, as was once commonly believed, to the present day, when since 1992 the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong emerged in China and soon flourished.

She would just watch it “because that’s how mesmerizing it was.”

How happy it made her to see those familiar exercises in Shen Yun’s performance!

According to Shen Yun’s website, the company’s “source of inspiration, rooted in traditional Chinese culture, is the spiritual discipline known as Falun Dafa,” a practice of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. The practice of Falun Dafa also uses meditative exercises.

Seeing those same Falun Gong movements “made me sad and happy. Meaning, I thought, ‘Oh, I’m familiar with this. I’ve seen this my whole life.’ But the fact that they’re not able to perform this in China, it made me very sad,” Tannous explained.

The dancers, “all, they’re phenomenal, she said. “They’re so smooth, so seamless. So, you’re watching and you don’t even realize what’s happening. It’s wonderful.”

Echoing Tannous, Susanna Shulman, a geophysicist, called the performance “the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”

Shulman was stunned by what she saw and heard—stunned by the unexpected beauty of the soprano’s voice: “I was shocked that [Shen Yun] had such a soprano in the show. I thought it was more dancing, I didn’t know about the singing. It’s was quite stunning.”

And she felt the same way about the costumes: “I’m really astounded how beautiful they were. Everything is gorgeous. It’s very elegant. I didn’t think it would be as elegant as it was.”

The impact of the performances is something she thinks can help people realize the power of the arts and the importance of our humanity. For Shen Yun “has taken the initiative to show us that if we lost our art and our creativity, we lose our humanity. I find this such a strong message.”

Especially in our world today, when technology is ever-present, “we cannot lose our humanity. If we do, there’s no point. We turn into a machine, and all we do is produce work instead of inspirational, artistic expression. I think it’s important to express everything you have as an emotion inside, and art and this type of performance is what shows that the best.”