BADEN-BADEN, Germany—Mr. Henri Charlet, owner of five martial arts schools, attended the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts Company’s closing performance at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, on Thursday, May 1. This venue is Germany’s largest opera house and concert hall, seating 2,500 people.

Mr. Charlet’s mother, owner of a music school, invited him to watch Shen Yun Performing Arts, a company based in New York. “Despite being involved in martial arts, I have a musical background. I lived with music when growing up and can appreciate good music,” he said.

“I was fascinated by the Asian music. Actually, for me, Chinese music holds calmness. The voice of the erhu was impressive. I lack the words to explain my feelings when hearing this instrument.”

According to the Shen Yun website, “Ancient Chinese instruments such as the soul-stirring erhu and the delicate pipa lead the melody on top of a full orchestra of Western strings, percussion, woodwinds, and brass.”

“Shen Yun’s performance was very colorful, very cheerful, truly moving and absolutely beautiful. I can only say that I loved this show,” he said.

“Shen Yun presents colorful and exhilarating performances of classical Chinese dance and music” says the Shen Yun website. “A performance by Shen Yun is a presentation of traditional Chinese culture as it once was: a study in grace, wisdom, and the virtues distilled from the five millennia of Chinese civilization.”

The backdrop, projected behind the performers, shows images of Chinese landscapes and celestial palaces and interacts with performers on stage.

The interaction “was amazing, especially since what was shown on this backdrop supported the actors throughout the show.”

Given his martial arts background, Mr. Charlet was fascinated by the male dancers.

“Seeing the acrobatics and the battles reminded me of my training. All this was magnificent,” he said.

Mr. Chalet’s practice of martial “entails philosophy and the recognition of certain values, which were addressed in the performance, such as the union of heaven, earth and that of the physical body and the soul.”

Martial arts and classical Chinese dance have a shared root, explains Shen Yun’s website.

“One has to look within to find oneself and once one detects one’s values, ones needs to understand how fortunate one is that one can look within,” he said.

Actually martial arts does not only represent the exterior movements, “which are only a small part of the practice. In the end it requires that one finds one’s inner self.”

Reporting by Nina Hamrle and Heide B. Malhotra

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.