“They’re incredible artists,” Melissa said alongside her family members, Robin Von Ruden and Janet Cline, on Oct. 1.

“[It] was amazing to see the [dancers’] control of the body and the heartfelt movements. I loved the color and the movement, and how well they were synchronizing,“ Melissa said. ”The difficulty there is just incredibly high, and I was just in awe.”

“The music took it to a different level, especially the individual player that was on the stage with the two strings [erhu]. You could just close your eyes and just feel the music” she said.

“My mom couldn’t stop laughing about the monkeys and stuff. She just thought that was the cutest and fun. It brought some heartfelt silliness to kind of the seriousness of all of it. It was beautiful,” Melissa added.

“I definitely want to see that again,” she said.

The dances evoked a feeling of connection in Melissa. “The character of the divinity coming down and then him arriving [on earth] was very moving,” she said of one of the performances.

“Everybody needs their heritage to build a better tomorrow,” Melissa said. “We have to know what our history was. It’s sad to see that the communism was trying to wipe out people’s belief in the divine and the people’s connection to the divine and their history. I think we all need a connection to something larger than ourselves.”

For Melissa, watching Shen Yun was also a learning experience, which had her leaving the theater with the powerful message that we’re not alone. “You can look beyond yourself and see that there is something more above us,” she said.

Kevin Flynn, a crystal sculptor, was also impressed by the color and movement of Shen Yun, which he said had “a very natural human flow.”

He commented on the energy he felt emanating from the performance on stage.

“I think it comes from the dedication and the passion from the performers,“ he said. ”I am [always] inspired by people who really have a deep passion for their craft.”

The music from the orchestra was also “very soothing and uplifting,” he added of Shen Yun’s harmonizing of traditional Chinese instruments and classical Western instruments.

Flynn said, “With everything that’s happened in the past year [the pandemic], [Shen Yun] absolutely is a very nice, bright bit of sunshine and light.”