“I’ve been very interested in [Falun Dafa] and today’s performance has inspired me that I’m going to buy and read and study the book,” Dr. Alexander said.

Shen Yun performers also practice Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual practice of the Buddhist tradition that is centered on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

This spiritual component enables the artists to excel—forming the heart behind each dancing movement and each musical note, according to the company website.

“All the dancing was terrific—the backdrops and the coordination with the costumes and colours was just fantastic. The live orchestra was fantastic,” Dr. Alexander said.

Dr. Alexander described the scene where the persecuted practitioners are met with a “brilliant white light” that “doesn’t even exist on earth” as a “death and resuscitation experience.”

“Then you realise Falun Gong and all the great religions of the world always have that same after death experience—that there’s a spiritual existence,” Dr. Alexander said.

“And everybody describes virtually the same thing with the white light and spirits that guide them, and the incredibly euphoric feeling that they experience. So, I want to read the book now.”

Meanwhile, former ballet dancer Pamela Broske, who watched Shen Yun with Dr. Alexander, said she could see and feel the beauty of the dancers.

After all, Shen Yun means “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”

“You feel God when you move with joy, and celebrate life,” Ms. Broske said.

As a former ballet dancer, Ms. Broske said she knew she was “with God” whenever she danced.

“The energy is what we are, but if you believe and have faith, it’s from the Divine Creator,” she said.

“There is something so beautiful in something so inherent in your culture.

“You need to be able to experience this, and claim your Chinese heritage through dance.”