NEW YORK—From the moment the curtain lifted to reveal Shen Yun Performing Arts at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, Jeannette Davila was transfixed.

“I loved it! I just loved it! I had a wonderful time. I just was so focused on the dancing and the history and the story behind it … The energy starts the minute that you start hearing the music, taking you through the instruments that are unique to China,” said Davila, who works as executive vice president of a non-profit in Manhattan.

New York-based Shen Yun was established in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5000 years of divinely inspired culture.

She found the performance, which features classical Chinese dance and music, to touch on universal themes. “It is about humanity, so immediately you feel that connection,” she said. “It’s just very emotional.”

She said she found the opera singers incredible. “I think people wanted to start applauding and screaming, but they just couldn’t. There was this sense of quietness and feeling the feeling that was in the room. It just was very emotional. But very quiet.”

The depth of Shen Yun’s performance also touched banker Liliani Ferrari, who said she learned a lot from the stories depicted.

Numerous Shen Yun mini-drama pieces feature scenes from stories and legends like Journey to the West and Ne Zha Churns the Sea.

“They are very deep … It is definitely very wise, all of this story-telling. It has a lot of wisdom that has been kept for thousands and thousands of years,” she said.

Reporting by NTD Television and Channaly Philipp

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.