COSTA MESA, Calif.—Vince Costa and his family spend a lot of time learning about other cultures, so when they heard about Shen Yun Performing Arts, a production bringing 5,000 years of Chinese civilization for life, attending the performance was a no-brainer.

Costa was then surprised to learn that a performance like Shen Yun can’t be seen in China itself. Moreover, the cause for Shen Yun’s mission to revive this traditional culture is because of the communist regime in China’s destruction of traditional culture to begin with.

“Really kind of made me feel, on the one hand, sad for people in China, but also privileged that we had the opportunity to see this wonderful expression,” said Costa, CEO of American Suspension. He saw the performance at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on April 18.

Shen Yun, founded in New York in 2006, is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company.

Costa said throughout the performance he was amazed by the dancers, both their skill and the sheer expression of their personalities through the performance.

He wondered “what they must be thinking and how they feel, and sort of curious what their story is because I know it must be a lot of work.”

Classical Chinese dance is, alongside ballet, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world. Along with difficult flips and tumbling techniques---the predecessor to sports like gymnastics and acrobatics---the dance also emphasizing bearing, or the inner spirit of the artists.

“You know they were different, it’s seen in their eyes, the moves they did.” Costa said. “And you can tell they must really, really, really enjoy what they do.”

Some of the high leaps and flips, backwards and forwards, had Costa holding his breath waiting for them to land just right.

“It was a very fascinating, very interesting show,” Costa said.