He had first heard about the performance five years ago when he picked up a flyer, but never made it to a show—until the evening before, when he spontaneously decided to purchase last-minute tickets. Exiting the theater after the performance, he was thrilled with his decision.

“It was really spectacular. I didn’t think we expected all the different types of things … the different kind of [programs] all the way through, that was really cool,” he said.

Mr. Lawler especially enjoyed the female dance piece featuring the “water sleeves.” They were a part of ancient Chinese feminine attire, symbolizing humility and grace. Light and airy, they billow and flow on stage, evoking the gentle movement of water.

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

Today, the New York-based Shen Yun is working to revive this lost civilization and bring back to the world through dance and music, the beauty of pre-communist China.

Shen Yun showed “a religious faith from the history and a [divine] overseer, if you may, coming down and telling the story of his creation and then [beings] following into the earthly world. I thought that was really neat,” he said.

“I also like the different generations of life and how they were talking about [the] old world all the way to present, and how that belief system still seems to come through. That was really impressive.”

Summing up his experience, Mr. Lawler said every aspect of the evening was spectacular.

Since its establishment in 2006, Shen Yun has earned widespread acclaim. Each year, the artists present a brand-new set of choreography and musical compositions, ensuring that both new and returning audience members are always in for a surprise.