PORTLAND, Ore.—Brad Bowden, an archaeologist, and his wife Angela, a company co-founder, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Keller Auditorium on Jan. 21. It was the couple’s first experience of Shen Yun, and both were deeply impressed.

“The acrobatics of the men are certainly very impressive. I also really liked the dance with the really long sleeves. That was very beautiful.”

Mr. Bowden was very surprised by traditional Chinese culture’s deep connection with spirituality.

“It’s so much about divinity and divine beings helping [humanity.] That was surprising for me. I didn’t know it was an integral part of Chinese culture. It’s very moving,” he said. “It’s always important to know your history and to remember it.”

The message that will stay with him from the performance is “the interplay of the divine beings with people on earth and the similarities [of Chinese culture] to a lot of other cultural ideas about the origins of the people and the relationship between divine beings and humans.”

Mrs. Bowden, too, loved the artists’ depiction of “reverence and the compassion of the deities helping us through our challenges of life.”

Also enjoying the evening was Chris White, a company manager, and Scott Milham, a data engineer. They love everything that Shen Yun stands for.

Mr. Milham, too, enjoyed the show very much. He loved how vibrant and beautiful the costumes were. “The dancing was amazing and beautiful, and very athletic,” he added.

Although Mr. Milham rarely has the opportunity to experience traditional Chinese culture, Shen Yun certainly convinced him that it’s “important to keep the traditional Chinese dance and culture alive.”

The artists are “doing a great job preserving the different aspects of the culture in the different regions of China. It was interesting and beautiful,” he said. “Keep it up.”