OGDEN, Utah—Shen Yun Performing Arts played to an enthusiastic crowd in Odgen, Utah at the Perry's Egyptian Theater on March 17. Shirley Hunt, a musicologist, attended the show with her friends, Dr. Kenneth Kelln and Mrs. Kelln.

Ms. Hunt has played and studied music professionally. She said that she enjoyed the way the dancing fit with the music, highlighting that "it's very descriptive and it incorporates the theme of what they're dancing about very nicely."

Commenting on the live music in Shen Yun played by the Shen Yun International Company Orchestra, Ms. Hunt said, "I found it interesting that they were using the pentatonic scale, I believe, for the melody. But they're using the diatonic scale for the harmony behind it which is a mixture of Western and Eastern culture and music. And personally I am just so swept away at another world. I just loved it."

Shen Yun's orchestras start with classical Western instruments as their foundation augmented by traditional Chinese instruments.

The use of traditional Chinese music in Shen Yun's original scores does more than provide entertainment. Ms. Hunt pointed to this and said "[the music] brings together the two cultures and I think it's very desirable for the audience to hear this—hear the two types together. They're probably much more responsive to that type of music than perhaps just the Chinese, if they use them all together."

Ms. Hunt also called Shen Yun's hand-made costumes "exquisite and beautiful."

Dr. Kelln,  a gastroenterologist, praised Shen Yun and said the show was a "contribution to our community here."

The doctor and his wife both said they were inspired by the dancers, by their strong motivation and disregard for the pain involved in learning such technique. "When you see [Shen Yun] in person it's a real inspiration to see what can be accomplished," Dr. Kelln said.

"I admire the skill" Mrs. Kelln added, "I'm going to go home and move more and exercise more. It's so inspiring."

Mrs. Kelln said she admired the Shen Yun for omitting anything "suggestive or inappropriate. It's all just clean and respectable. I like it because they're not riskily-dressed, none of their actions are suggestive. The focus, to me, it's a very clean, pure kind of thing."

Shen Yun Performing Arts is reviving traditional Chinese culture with emphasis on goodness, beauty and other universal, ancient values.

Dr. Kelln, who plays the clarinet himself and comes from a family of musicians, said the music in Shen Yun is "gorgeous" and "beautiful".

"It's even haunting. The minor keys of Oriental music is a haunting, lyrical music tradition. "

With reporting by Li Mei

Shen Yun Performing Arts will present one more show at Perry's Egyptian Theater in Ogden on March 18.

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/31619/