PITTSBURGH—Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company held its first performance at Pittsburgh’s Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 15.

Among the audience was University of Pittsburgh professor emeritus, former director of the International Bureau of Education in Geneva, and former education department director at UNESCO, Dr. Seth Spaulding, who said that the show helped him understand many truths about China that he had not known.

He listed three things about Chinese culture that he learned from Shen Yun: “The first is that Chinese culture contains belief in gods. It’s not atheistic. I feel that it is a culture founded on the Buddhist school.”

“Second, from Shen Yun’s dance programs, I saw the spirit of the Chinese people. This spirit originates from morality, and draws on the power of morality to overcome difficulty and evil. It uses righteousness to conquer the wicked.”

Dr. Spaulding said that the third thing he realized was that Chinese culture was a beautiful heritage.

“This can be seen from the dances in Shen Yun. The performer’s postures, movements, expressions were so beautiful and graceful. The rhythm, the colors, the entire synergy were all so perfect,” he said, “This is something modern art cannot compare with. I often attend performances of all types, for example ballets. After seeing Shen Yun, I don’t want to watch modern performing arts anymore.”

Dr. Seth Spaulding was the former director of the International Bureau of Education in Geneva, former education department director at UNESCO, and emeritus professor of Administrative and Policy Studies at University of Pittsburgh. He has visited China multiple times during his career in education.