NEW YORK—George Balayan, head of a tech startup, says he doesn’t know any Chinese, but Shen Yun Performing Arts needed no language to convey what the artists wished to.

Mr. Balayan, CTO, saw the performance at Lincoln Center on April 12 with three friends, who spoke highly of the beauty of the performance.

“Just looking at how they perform is very inspirational to me too. Just because everyone who looks at this state-of-art performance wants to just be better their own job, which is very inspiring,” said Mr. Balayan.

“I think a lot of people confuse the state of China, the government of China, and the country of China,” Mr. Balayan added. “These are not the same things. I think with this performance, people understand the difference.”

“Amazing, amazing. Very, very high quality. It’s beautiful,” he said.

“I was just really inspired. I looked at this, the colors are so beautiful and they just, I haven’t seen that much color in a long time. The costumes and just the architecture and the nature,” he said. “The colors are beautiful and I almost want to paint.”

“Really beautiful dancing and just movements and stories. I think the stories are really the most important because we need to get inspired. We all need inspiration,” he added.

“I think that a lot of them, they were teaching us just to be kind, right?” he said of the stories. “Courage, compassion, and the third one, forbearance.”

“I can relate. I came from Soviet Union. Me and my parents immigrated. I was already at the end of communism when I was born but I know the history and it’s really sad that people can’t express themselves and can’t be free,” he said.

Leonard Kaban, surgeon and distinguished professor internationally recognized for his work in maxillofacial surgery, said Shen Yun was a gift from his wife, and a happy one.

“The show is freedom, creation, artistic ability, athleticism, empathy for your fellow humans,” he said.