ATLANTA—Shen Yun Performing Arts drew waves of applause, a standing ovation, whistles, calls, and gasps during the matinee on Jan. 17 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Among the responsive audience were artist Andrea Redd and her husband Paul.

“It's beautful, the dance is gorgeous, the costumes are lovely, the choreography is wonderful. They are so energetic—a pleasure to watch,” Mrs. Redd said.

The couple were seeing the New York-based Shen Yun presentation for the very first time, a portrayal of China’s millennia-old ancient roots played out in classical Chinese dance, music, and song.

Integral to Shen Yun are story-based dances taken from ancient legends, modern-day, and folk traditions.

“The stories are all really well portrayed, very well portrayed,” she said. “I think they are very easy to understand and they’re simple enough, so they will go across cultural lines very easily.”

Also unique to Shen Yun is an orchestra playing a combination of classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments, which the couple really enjoyed.

“I love the music,” Mrs. Redd said. “It's so nice to have an orchestra. ... It's very nice to have live music. The music is beautiful.”

They also enjoyed the dances and mentioned Flowing Silk in which long silken sleeves flow softly, much like ribbons in the breeze, conjuring an image of rippling water, the program says.

“I thought the flowing silk was very pretty,” said Mr. Redd; his wife continued, “I thought that was beautiful as well. They were all lovely.

“It's beautiful. They look like flowers out there. That was just beautiful; it was just like watching flowers. ... with the beautiful costumes, they look just like dancing flowers.”

Mr. Redd was captivated by the 3-D animated scenes that integrated a performance on stage with a panoramic screen.

“The backdrop was also very pretty. ... China must be a very beautiful place. I’ve never been there, but it must be very beautiful.”

With reporting by Sally Sun.

Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform next in Washington, D.C. from Jan. 19-24.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

Original article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/28174/