PROVIDENCE, R.I.—David Pottie, owner and editor of Connecticut-based entertainment magazine Sound Waves, found a uniquely entertaining experience in Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Providence Performing Arts Center, Feb. 23.

“It was good, it was good,” Mr. Pottie said.

Based in New York, Shen Yun artists came from around the globe in 2006 to revive the divinely inspired Chinese culture through the universal languages of music and dance.

The performance gave him an appreciation for the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, which Mr. Pottie said was presented in an enjoyable way through the use of stories and colors in the performance.

“I think it’s a really good idea,” Mr. Pottie said of Shen Yun’s mission to bring the culture to the world.

The stories that Shen Yun told through dance were what really captured Mr. Pottie. Universal themes like good versus evil and benevolence and justice were woven throughout.

“They were talented, they were good,” Mr Pottie said.

Ephemeral Experience

Also seeing Shen Yun for the first time was Ms. Pat Arntzen, human resources manager at Energy Federation, who attended the performance with Ms. Kirsten Daly and her young daughter.

“Magical! It was like watching jewels dance,” Ms. Arntzen said in awe. “It’s almost like you’re in another world.”

Ms. Arntzen compared the experience sitting in the audience to a visual she saw on stage. The performers had appeared on the digital backdrop one moment and jumped out onto the stage the next.

“They kind of pull you in—the same way the characters come out at you, I feel like we’re being pulled in,” she said. “It’s just magnificent, I think.”

“I’ve never experienced anything like it,” Ms. Arntzen said.

Ms. Daly said she'd sum the experience up in a word: ephemeral.

Ms. Daly had wanted to attend the performance to learn more about the history and culture of China, and share it with her young daughter. She was delighted to find that the format of Shen Yun’s presentation was easily followed regardless of one’s cultural background, and that her daughter had enjoyed it so much.

Dance and spirituality transcends cultures, Ms. Daly said, and “everyone can take pieces of it.

“I think that transcends; everyone can relate to that.”

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.