Christopher Lockhart, a doctor and musician, attended the performance with his mother, Judy Lockhart, and expressed that he could see the collective determination of the artists of Shen Yun.

“I think that anytime you have a group of people together who are collectively praying or experiencing something that touches their soul, something magical happens,” Mr. Lockhart said.

The cold weather in Grand Forks gave Mr. Lockhart an extra appreciation for Shen Yun’s “Plum Blossom” dance. Plum blossoms are known for blooming spectacularly in the cold of late winter.

“I think that spring is so intoxicating here upon the cold prairie that when the trees start to blossom in the spring, as perhaps they do in China, when they were shaking their pink and golden fans, that reminded me of the way that the blossoms tremble here in the spring breezes, and that’s something that we share with them,” he said.

“I’m enjoying it very much. I think that it has some of the traditional fullness and sound that I’m used to hearing as a performer. But then I think that it sounds so authentic. I’m hearing percussion and string instruments that are native to China that we don’t usually have here,” he said.

“I think that it’s completely different because the music is live rather than recorded. The instrumentalists put their own spirit into the sound that’s created fresh, just for this moment. And it comes to us and I feel it too,” he said.