“Emotional, very emotional,” said Ms. Sheldon. “Very beautiful, very classic, and just delightful, all around. I loved it.”

Ms. Sheldon could see the dedication the performers had.

“I think just the faces of the dancers, the emotion that they showed in the love for their craft was just inspirational, and it just made you happy. It was just lovely. The men, the women, every one of them, you could see in their faces that this was their passion.”

“Although the culture is different, we all have the same basic beliefs and the same basic hopes and dreams for our lives and our family and fighting evil and trying to be kind to one another and compassionate. You saw that on the stage in every single number, and the stories were like the parables of the Bible. They were teaching moments, and that was really, really important for me to hear tonight, to see tonight.”

According to the Shen Yun website, China was once known as the “Land of the Divine,” and its culture was greatly influenced by the spiritual teachings of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, yet these beliefs were all abolished by the atheist communist party that took power in 1949.

“I’m a Christian, and I believe in love and faith and compassion and peace and kindness,” said Ms. Sheldon. “You just felt that when you saw the dancers move across the stage and repel communism … and just be so incredibly beautiful. You saw God’s beauty right there on the stage.”

Shen Yun’s program is made up of a series of dance vignettes, which include story-based dances, as well as songs performed in the traditional bel canto style, and a performance by a soloist who plays an erhu, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument with only two strings, but can express a wide range of tones and emotions. According to the Shen Yun website, all the performers believe in cultivating the heart in order to create beautiful art.

The performers’ beauty touched Ms. Sheldon.

To the performers, Ms. Sheldon would like to say, “I thank you for the performance because I didn’t have any expectation of seeing it and being as moved as I was.”