CHICAGO—“I thought it was beautiful,” commented Nicole Suarez after seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Civic Opera House, on April 5.

“I really wasn’t expecting it to be as beautiful as it was,” she said.

Nicole Suarez is a journalist and anchor for ‘Hoy Noticias Mundo Fox 13,’ a Spanish Chicago news program.

Shen Yun, which has been touring the globe for eight seasons, delivered its fifth and final performance this evening for this season in the City of Big Shoulders.

Shen Yun’s mission is to bring back to life the rich traditional culture China once had during its 5,000 history. Classical Chinese dance, along with symphonic music, and elegant artistry are what’s at the heart of the New York-based company.

“It was really an eye-opening experience, because you’re able to see the culture that they have, and I love that there was kind of like a prelude, a history, a story, and then the dancers would come out,” commented Ms. Suarez.

Ms. Suarez actually heard about the show from her mother who picked up the tickets so they could have some family bonding time, according to Ms. Suarez.

An important component of classical Chinese dance is its attention to a dancer’s inner spirit and his or her ability to convey deep emotional expression. Shen Yun not only fully utilizes this feature, but also has bilingual English-Mandarin emcees who share a brief introduction before each piece.

“And it’s interesting, because, despite the language differences, things still are told the same way,” continued Ms. Suarez. “So, you could understand because of the movements and because of that kind of body language that they have that can go across all cultures and all languages. So, it was beautiful.”

“I think it’s absolutely beautiful,” she said. “I think that it’s incredible that there’s people who work to preserve their culture and to show it to other people, that’s the most important.”.

“I think it’s great that they’re able to include that in their culture, and despite maybe not being able to practice it in their own country sometimes,” continued Suarez. “They can still spread the word and spread that to other cultures when they go to other countries and kind of show people what’s going on in China.”

Shen Yun has still yet to perform in mainland China. Since the communist regime seized control in 1949, much of China’s ancient customs and traditions have been repressed, including any form of artistic expression that doesn’t conform to communist ideology.

Reporting by Teresa You and Paul Darin

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006