CLEVELAND—“In the dead of winter, here in Cleveland, with the shades of gray, [Shen Yun’s] got the most colorful sets around,” said Ann Carol Skoglund, after she saw Shen Yun Performing Arts on Feb. 1 at Cleveland’s State Theatre.

“The orchestra, it’s great, especially the traditional instruments in front of the orchestra. They make a unique sound. It’s beautiful,” said James Roosa, attending with Ms. Skoglund.

“It’s a nice mixture of the Western orchestra and the traditional instruments, very good,” he said.

New York-based Shen Yun brings 5,000 years of Chinese civilization to the world, through both music and dance: classically trained dancers, award-winning singers, and a full orchestra comprised of both Eastern and Western instruments.

Just as the orchestra mixes the East and West, the vocalists sing in Chinese and yet apply the challenging bel canto Italian technique of singing at the same time.

“I didn’t expect to hear them singing almost like a Western-style of opera, very well done,” Mr. Roosa said.

Mr. Roosa, an attorney who worked for a Fortune 500 company for years, started his own firm to focus on small businesses. Ms. Skoglund works for Schwabs Retirement Plan.

Ms. Skoglund commented, “I like how expressive some of the dancers are. The one with the lotus, she is just so emotional and so expressive in the story she’s telling through the dance, very nice.”

“Fantastic, great dancing, very high-quality,” Mr. Roosa said.

As far as describing the whole experience, Ms. Skoglud said, “We’re taken on an adventure.”

“The adventure—[Shen Yun] kind of crosses culture in time and then even in space … you escape for a little while,” she elaborated.

And the idea with the interaction of the screen…, It’s an adventure; it takes you away,” she said, referring to the digitally animated screen that seems to interact with the live performers.

“The movie, the video on the screen is really unique. It’s very well done,” Mr. Roosa said.

Mr. Roosa said he would take away with him the “respect for the dancers’ high-quality.”

Reporting by Teresa You and Sharon Kilarski

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.