GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—Despite the beauty of the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance on the first night of its Midwest tour, its audience felt a tinge of sadness: They learned that the traditional Chinese music and dance company cannot perform in Mainland China.

“To know that thousands of years that have been in that culture, it’s sad that it’s suppressed now,” Mr. Evans said.

If not for Shen Yun, Mrs. Evans would have missed the energy of the all-male Mongolian dance. She enjoyed seeing them bring to life the horse culture, which “came through in the dance.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qJah7aCtIs

“It would just be such a huge loss to mankind, I think, to not have it out there for us to see,” Mrs. Evans said.

“I think it will come back, and this is part of that,” Mr. Evans said.

The Damstra family concentrated mostly on the aesthetics of the performance.

Leah gave the costumes a 10 out of 10 rating, Mrs. Damstra enjoyed the music, and Mr. Damstra noted the “elegant athleticism” of the dancers, as he called it.

The dances were “simple and clean,” he said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T5ZhDTINDs

Mrs. Damstra elaborated on her husband’s thought. “I think they make the point really well, too, that you know, it takes us to a time that has come from a lot of simplicity—that’s really beautiful.

“And [from the] divine, I think they would say, in the show,” she said.

“I think it’s a reflection of the values that they have in their culture, in the [ancient] Chinese culture. It’s religious in the sense that it has this deep meaning of life and love for the land,” Mr. Damstra said.

In order to present a culture steeped in divine inspiration, Shen Yun artists find inspiration in their personal spiritual connections. It is their “motivation for striving to excel, is the heart behind each movement of the dancer and each note of the musician,” as Shen Yun’s website states.

As for that divine aspect, “I think that’s so built in all of us. It’s showing something that we all have in us,” Mrs. Damstra said.