LYON, France—Shen Yun Performing Arts once again performed to a full house at the Amphitheatre 3000 when it took to the stage for its second performance in Lyon, on the afternoon of Feb. 5.

Luba Basova and Frédéric Jay were in the audience. Ms. Basova is a technology trainer at WHO and Mr. Jay is a project manager in the energy sector. Originally from Kiev in Ukraine, Luba practiced classical dance in her youth.

“Bravo!” she exclaimed. “The dancers are of the highest caliber, amazing, so exceptional.”

“We really wish for peace everywhere, in China, Ukraine and all over the world,” she said. “And yes ... it makes you cry.”

The former principal had tears in his eyes, but from happiness.

“I find it so good that I tell myself ‘it’s going to be like this from the beginning to the end...I’m going to be incredibly happy!” he said.

He explained that he was particularly moved by “the beauty ... the beauty, the truth of everything ... That’s what’s good!”

Bernard Tabourin came to experience Shen Yun with his granddaughter Mila. He, too is retired, a former tax director.

“I was in admiration of the quality of work that was done,” he said. “Lightness, flexibility, beauty ... It was really magnificent!”

“I understand the message, I share it. I totally agree and I think it’s reconciling the old and the new. It is magnificent! At the same time, it is freedom, highlighting freedom, which is essential,” he said.

Martine Ducloux, a former business owner, exclaimed, “Beautiful! Light and airy!”

“There are no words,” she said. “It is magnificent to see and to see again. Happiness, lightness! Everything was perfect. It is magnificent. I feel happy ... I feel good, light ... it brings happiness!”

Shen Yun means “the beauty of divine beings dancing” in Chinese, and the ancient Chinese believed that their culture was brought to earth by the divine. Therefore, they put spirituality at the heart of their daily life, aiming for harmony between Heaven, Earth and humankind, praising the Divine.

Mr. Jay believes the Shen Yun “allows us to take a step back from today’s situations and to say to ourselves, no, we must have pleasure ... have joy ... marvel at the beautiful things in life! It’s important!”

For Bernard Tabourin, Shen Yun “is thought-provoking. There is an appeasement. There is a very peaceful side and at the same time, voluntary, that is to say not subjected to the outside, not subjected to modernism ... So, to reconcile both the modern and the ancient, but with the love of others, with the need for freedom.”