DETROIT—On April 25, Detroit City Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway attended Shen Yun Performing Arts’ evening show at the Detroit Opera House, where she presented the company with a Spirit of Detroit Award recognizing its dedication to reviving and sharing traditional culture.

“The award was presented on behalf of the city of Detroit, our mayor and our entire city council, which represents nine people, and we represent the entire city of Detroit,” Ms. Whitfield-Calloway said.

“It was the most beautiful performance. This is my first time coming. I brought a guest. It was just amazing. Everything was synchronized to perfection. Everything was precise and absolutely beautiful.”

“It’s important that you hold on to your culture and your tradition, and I think everybody needs to see it from the youngest to the oldest,” Ms. Whitfield-Calloway stated.

“I want to see more children come to this performance so they can understand [Chinese] culture, where [they] come from, and how [they’ve] evolved. I think it’s important that everybody, from the youngest to the oldest, see this production.”

“It was a beautiful story from the beginning—5,000 years ago all the way up until today,” Ms. Whitfield-Calloway said.

“I liked the Mongolian dancers, … I like the Monkey [King,] and the ‘Peacock Paradise.’ It was just beautiful, and all the costumes were just meticulous—the beading and the sequence and the rhinestones—just beautiful. Everything was just perfection.”

“I appreciate your skill, your physical fitness, and the way you put your whole body and your spirit into your performances,” she said.

“I felt it—their whole person was involved in every performance, and it was amazing. It was physical but spiritual as well. Just beautiful from the inside out.”