NEW YORK—Janis Schulmeisters, a former attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, said he very much enjoyed attending Shen Yun Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York on the afternoon of Jan. 12. 

“We loved it very much,” said Mr. Schulmeisters, who attended the show with his wife Faith Schulmeisters, who is also an attorney. 

Mr. Schulmeisters, the former attorney in charge of the New York Field Office of the U.S. Department of Justice, is currently a lecturer at Maritime College SUNY. 

Shen Yun is a New York-based classical Chinese dance group founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists. The group’s mission is to revitalize traditional Chinese culture. 

Each dance is accompanied by an orchestra composed of Eastern and Western instruments. 

“The music is really good,” Mr. Schulmeisters said. “I like the mixture between the Chinese and Western.”

Chinese instruments, such as the “erhu,” or two-stringed Chinese violin, play the main melody to purvey a distinctly Chinese flavor. Meanwhile, symphonic instruments such as the trumpet and violin bring a sense of grandeur to the music. 

“It’s a really nice mixture,” he said.

Mr. Schulmeisters also said the costumes are “unbelievably beautiful.”

Shen Yun’s costumes vary from imperial dragon robes to phoenix coronets, to the Mongolian ethnic attire.

“The costumes are vibrant and very beautiful,” Mrs. Schulmeisters said. “The lighting is very well done.”

Mrs. Schulmeisters added that she was particularly impressed by Shen Yun’s state-of-the-art digital technology. 

Shen Yun’s backdrop whisks the audience from snow-shrouded Himalayan peaks to celestial settings. 

“I think it’s really well done,” she said. “It’s just a lot of fun.”

Fabio Sarmiento, an architect, was also sitting in the audience. 

“The music is fantastic,” Mr. Sarmiento said. “The orchestra is phenomenal.”

Mr. Sarmiento said he was particularly inspired by Shen Yun’s founding story. 

“The whole story behind the show, it’s really nice,” he said. 

Traditional Chinese culture is very much imbued with respect for the divine, as well as Buddhist and Taoist philosophies. 

Over the past 60 years of the atheist-based communist rule, much of the original Chinese culture has been suppressed. Shen Yun is changing that with its performances. 

“It’s a really, really nice show,” he said. “I recommend it to anybody around the planet.”

With reporting by William Jin and Amelia Pang

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.