CHICAGO—Shen Yun Performing Arts has been described as the performance everyone should see at least once in their life. Suzanne Baker Brown, the CEO of a nonprofit, said that she could not take her eyes off the stage.

“You couldn’t take your eyes off of them. The costumes were great. The spiritual message was wonderful,” Ms. Baker Brown said.

One dance that really captured Ms. Baker Brown was “The Ladies’ Classical Chinese Dance.”

“It was phenomenal.  I think mesmerizing would be the word that I used. Particularly the one with the pink and black outfits was amazing,” she said.

“It’s heart-breaking to know that people are persecuted like that there, and obviously that happens all over the world in different forms. I think you’ve done an amazing job of communicating and sharing [that],” she said.

China was once a land of divinely inspired culture. When the Chinese Communist Party came into power, it systematically tried to destroy and distort that culture and people’s belief in the divine.

“It was incredible. Beautiful. And I’m so sorry. It’s heart-breaking to have all of our humanity and divinity squelched or squashed, which is what communism has done. The artistic part of us and the alive part of us is being squelched,” Ms. Baker Brown said.

“Loved the music. It was interesting to hear some different instruments too,” she said.

“I had never seen that instrument before—that was very unique and interesting,” she said.

“I love that they said that because I think it’s true. I was a music major in college and loved music,” Ms. Baker Brown said. “That’s a big part of our faith as well. I think the connection to the music and the impact of our soul and healing and all of that was incredible.”