CLEVELAND—Memphis Tuft was most impressed with the synchronization the Shen Yun Performing Arts’ dancers had at the Feb. 1 performance at Cleveland’s State Theater.

Mr. Tuft, a retired IT manager for the City of Cleveland and current Assistant Pastor, said “The absolute coordination that they had to have to be in sync with what had already been recorded with respect to the backdrop, which is unique. I loved it.”

He is referring to the high-tech automated backdrop that interacts with the performers. Shen Yun presents 5,000 years of divinely-inspired civilization and its virtues through story-based dance, music, vocal soloists, dazzling costumes, and animated backdrops.

“The artistic fervor—you have color, you have dance, you have ballet, and you have folk dance. You have all of that combined in a unique way that I haven’t seen before. I loved it.”

It all came together for him. Mr. Tuft expressed, “It is a way of life.”

Mr. Tuft elaborated, “When you dance such that not only your whole body but you are in synchronization with everybody else—the colors, the nature of things, even the dark side of things- when you do that, and you do it with such precision, it’s such soul, if you will.”

“It’s the joy of living, the joy of expression. That’s all I have to say in this short of time,” he said.

Mr. Tuft shared, “It’s very important that we not dwell on the negative but that we dwell tremendously on love, on beauty. When we do face adversity, as the little [Shen Yun performance] dramas showed, ... it is not adversity, darkness, anger that is going to overcome this world. It will be love, it will be God above.”

With reporting by Valerie Avore and Cat Rooney

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.