NEW YORK—Liu Guohua has seen Shen Yun Performing Arts every year for the past five years. A former law professor in China, he comes back to Shen Yun to experience the true culture of China that flourished until six decades of communism almost wiped it out.

“Watching tonight’s show has aroused brand new emotions in me,” Mr. Liu said on Thursday night after Shen Yun Performing Arts ended its performance at Lincoln Center to a standing ovation and three curtain calls.

“I realized that Shen Yun has immense ability to penetrate the heart and mind, is greatly influential, and is tremendously astounding,” he said. “I also feel that there’s a certain energy behind Shen Yun.”

Shen Yun, established in 2006 and based in New York, has three companies and orchestras touring the world with one mission: to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture, says its website.

“It doesn’t just provide a comprehensive reflection of classical Chinese culture, but has an impact on all of humankind,” Mr. Liu said.

Classical Chinese dance—an ancient art form considered one of the most comprehensive and hardest to master—handcrafted costumes, a digital backdrop, and an orchestra that melds classical Chinese instruments and classical Western instruments, says Shen Yun’s website, are the tools Shen Yun uses to impart the rich traditions of Chinese culture, including a spiritual core of principles such as kindness, wisdom, and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the gods and the heavens.

“I’m convinced that Shen Yun’s expanding impact will soon reach mainland China,” Mr. Liu said. “The day that Shen Yun performs in mainland China will be the brightest day for all Chinese.” Shen Yun is unable to perform in China as it revives the traditions that communism has spent 60 years trying to wipe out. “As a Chinese descendant, watching Shen Yun made me feel honored and delighted,” he said. “This show is telling people a principle: This world was created by Gods.”

Mr. Liu noted that the year 2012 has been much discussed across many different cultures, and felt that Shen Yun’s performance gave him insight into what kind of year this will ultimately be.

“After seeing this show, I think for the year 2012, it doesn’t mean man is going towards destruction, towards the end,” said Mr. Liu. “It means man is walking towards the start of a new era.”

Shen Yun’s website explains a principle expressed throughout Chinese culture about divine retribution—or good begetting good and evil receiving its due.

“As human society slowly depraves,” he said, “the moment it heads for destruction, Gods and Buddhas will come forth.”

For Mr. Liu, Shen Yun’s performance displays this principle, and its effects “are continuously expanding.”

New York-based Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at New York’s Lincoln Center through Jan. 15.

For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WTKCEA4tE[/video]