At a time when the performing arts seem to be on the decline, one company is experiencing a meteoric rise.

If you imagine the canvas came to life, if you could hear the music, if you could see the colors come to life. In less than two decades, Shen Yun has grown from one to eight equally large companies touring the world simultaneously, each with its own orchestra.

There's the mental aspect and also the physical aspect.

You have to train every part of your body to jump, flip, dance.

They now travel to over 200 cities a year and perform in front of over one million audience members. I want my audience to walk out of the auditorium feeling better than when they walked in.

So how has Shen Yun achieved this success?

What is the secret to its approach?

In this special episode of American Thought Leaders, we get an exclusive inside look at the world's premier classical Chinese dance company. All the materialistic things people try to pursue, it's not going to last forever.

What lasts forever are the things you have inside.

They're driving a restoration of authentic Chinese culture, yet they are banned in China.

It's something that the CCP has tried to destroy.

So what is motivating the artists behind this global phenomenon?

There's something more noble than us.

There's a lot of wisdom that you can draw upon. Artists from the Renaissance period, they spent years on just one piece of art.

But what they came up with would go on to inspire people for generations.

That's what we're trying to achieve.

This is American Thought Leaders, and I'm Jan Jekielek.