KANSAS CITY, Mo.—College professor Barbara Craig and her adopted daughter Elizabeth felt a connection with the dancers during the Shen Yun Performing Arts presentation at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, Jan. 29.

A professor of communications, Ms. Craig said, “I will say the nonverbal [communication], it was just beautiful, taking in all the senses as far as the gestures, the space, and the costumes.”

Ms. Craig’s own daughters did Chinese dance, “so watching the performers, it reminded me when they were little.”

She summed up the beauty of the performance as “just taking culture and putting it into an expression that everybody can appreciate the divine.”

“When we think about culture, we all have our history, and a lot of times we will get the opportunity to see another culture’s history. Shows like this allow us to see where they came from, where other cultures are at, and how we have more in common than we are different.”

“It was really nice watching them seeing what I could have done if I stuck with it. But it was just beautiful. I loved watching it. My instructor was someone who dances just like them. Full circle.”

Symbolism, especially in the opening act with the dancers, the lotus flowers, and long flowing sleeves impressed Ms. Craig. She loved that, as they danced, “they would flip them out, and it reminded me of bamboo.”

Recalling the last act of the Creator saving mankind, Ms. Craig said, “Pretty powerful when we think of it; just taking the symbolism that, you know, we can be saved. And He brought that to us.”

Elizabeth said the performers connected with the audience. “I thought it was very unique and very clever how they were able to take [the opening] storyline and bringing in a way that connected the audience. It was very clever. I really liked it.”

Retired Army colonel Harlan Lawson brought his wife Janet, a retired speech pathologist, registered nurse Brandi, and sixth grader Madeline Minton to a Shen Yun performance on Sunday.

“I thought the choreography was fantastic, just the ability to be in sync with the music and with what else was going on on stage,” he said. “It’s just extremely professional and takes a lot of hard work. There’s also a lot of athleticism in it.”

Janet was moved by many aspects of the performance. “It’s magnificent: the colors, the movements, the gracefulness. And then again that there is still communism, and that people need to be aware of it.”

Madeline said, “I didn’t know that communism was still a thing in China, actually.”

Brandi expressed her gratitude “for what we have here in the United States. I’m Christian so I love the idea of Falun Dafa, that it’s so very similar to how we were raised.”

Col. Lawson also commented: “I also did not know that the [spirituality] that they follow is so close to Christianity. I was very much impressed with that. I think we need to get together and work together on that even more. That was a surprise to me, and very enlightening.”

Janet was happy to finally see Shen Yun. “I’ve been waiting four years to see this. I was really glad to have the opportunity to get here.” She, too, was grateful for the work that went into the performance. “The work that goes into this performance, I mean the time and effort. It’s just magnificent.”

Col. Lawson appreciated the performers’ courage: “The idea that they are waving the flag of freedom and heaven’s providence I think is critical. It’s more than just entertainment; it actually gets to the important values in life.”

He said he brought the streaming version to watch it again at home.