(Clearwisdom.net) The internationally acclaimed Shen Yun Performing Arts presented a collection of dances, songs, and musical scores in the Orpheum Theater in Omaha, Nebraska on Sunday evening, Dec. 26. At the core of the performance is the essence of traditional Chinese culture.

Omaha audience watch Shen Yun show joyfully

Ballet dancer: “It’s just beautiful. We’re really enjoying it.”

Tom O'Riordan (R), his wife Kim (C), and their daughter, Caitlin (L).

Among the audience were Tom O’Riordan, his wife Kim, and their daughter, Caitlin. Caitlin is a dance performance major at a university in Indianapolis and has been a ballet dancer for 14 years.

“It’s just beautiful. We’re really enjoying it.” said Mrs. O’Riordan. “It’s very enjoyable,” Mr. O’Riordan added.

"This was the first time that the family has seen Shen Yun perform," Mrs. O’Riordan said, adding that they were enjoying their first experience. “It’s very fun to see,” Caitlin said of the dances.

Shen Yun is dedicated to reviving the traditional Chinese culture. It presents classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dance, an orchestra with original music, award winning vocalists, and hi-tech animated backdrops to take the audience into the stories, legends, and vocal performances.

Mrs. O’Riordan described the costumes as a beautiful aspect of the performance. “They’re so bright, and I think they’re very vivid,” she said. “They just really help show off the dancers very nicely.”

Mr. O’Riordan found the hi-tech images on the backdrop an effective part of the show. “It’s very unique,” he said. “You don’t often see the use of interactive electronic graphics with the stage.”

Caitlin also liked the hi-tech images. “It’s fun that they’re telling a part of the Chinese culture with it, too,” she said. “I think that that’s really interesting and it helps the audience to understand it better as well.”

Actress: “The choreography, the pictures—especially the dance numbers are gorgeous.”

Actress Andi Bohs enjoyed Sunday evening’s performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Omaha Orpheum Theater.

“The costumes are beautiful, just the overall messages, it's gorgeous,” Ms. Bohs said. Ms. Bohs said she was impressed with “the choreography, the pictures—especially the dance numbers are gorgeous. The overall pictures the choreographer made.”

She was enthused by the interaction of the animated backdrops choreographed to match each program and also the Shen Yun Orchestra with its all-original compositions that blend Eastern and Western instruments, and the vocalists. “The music, it's wonderful. Everything … all the elements of the production worked well together, nothing overpowers anything. The singers were beautiful too,” Ms. Bohs said.

The Music Was Beautiful

Sales executive Regis Picard was also in the audience drawn to the Shen Yun performance because of a love he has for Chinese music.

“I enjoyed it, the music was beautiful. The performance was wonderful, it was a pleasure,” Mr. Picard said. He was surprised by Shen Yun’s portrayal of ancient China’s divinely-inspired history that conveyed messages he came to understand. He said, “It was more spiritual than I had expected. Of course it goes back so many millennia. It appears to be very much alive in people's lives.”

He particularly enjoyed the dance Plum Blossom, saying it was  “very creative, very well executed, beautiful.”