CLAREMONT, Calif.—Sal Medina, the Mayor of Claremont, was wowed by the beauty of Shen Yun when he attended the company’s matinee on March 10, at the Bridges Auditorium.

He brought with him a welcome letter to congratulate the artists’ success and extend his best wishes for their 2024 world tour.

“It was fantastic. It’s very different from any theater production I’ve seen. I just enjoyed the pageantry, the color, the movement—it was exciting,” Mayor Medina said.

“I think [the performers] are incredible that they’re taking on this challenge. Here in the U.S., we enjoy these opportunities so much more regularly than in other parts of the world. I think the idea that they’re trying to take this to a global theater—I applaud them and wish them the absolute most success.”

Since Shen Yun Performing Arts’ advent in 2006, the group has grown to become a global sensation, with eight equally sized companies set to perform in over 200 cities this year.

Referring to the skill and talent of the dancers, Mayor Medina said, “It’s absolutely major.”

“I’m always curious as to how long these dancers trained to perform at this level because, in my opinion, whenever you get to a point in which you’re so great at what you do, that’s thousands and thousands of hours. It’s absolutely beautiful.”

He especially loved Shen Yun’s story-based dance recounting some events inside a restaurant.

“What I really enjoyed was the storytelling without words and being able to really identify with the story as it makes its way through,” Mayor Medina added. “It’s funny because as a restaurateur— [the story] about the restaurant and the health inspector—instant, I was very connected with the storyline.”

The goal of these New York-based artists is to bring back China’s lost culture and its belief in the divine through beautiful art.

For thousands of years, Chinese people were very spiritual and believed that their culture was a gift from the heavens. Yet under the communist regime’s violent rule and the spread of atheism, China’s 5,000 years of traditional culture were forced to the brink of extinction.

Mayor Medina resonated deeply with this mission. “I think, right now, traditional values are something that many people are searching for—to find and to reconnect with them,” he said.

“For me personally, it’s something that I’m searching for and dealing with. I think being able to have a story like this [from] different ethnic groups, allows us to connect with each other a little bit more.”

For him, Shen Yun’s message is about human connections and that “we’re not alone in this world.”

“There is a connectivity between our cultures wherever we may be, whether it’s here or abroad or in another part of the world. [It’s something] that we can’t deny. I believe the performance is teaching us that this connectivity exists and is alive,” the mayor elaborated.

“I think those people, that are coming here, they will be touched by the performance and by the message that’s coming across. Hopefully, when we leave here, we leave better because of it. We’ll take this message and, little by little, live it in our daily lives. It’s fantastic.”

Reporting by NTD and Jennifer Tseng.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.