WASHINGTON, D.C.—United Airlines pilot Jamie Fontanella had never known about the Chinese belief in the heavenly creation of humankind before seeing Shen Yun. But there’s a hint of this belief—a belief in the divine nature of Chinese culture as well—in the very name of the company. “Shen Yun” means the beauty of divine beings dancing. That’s the glory of China’s long spiritual past that Shen Yun aims to capture onstage and bring to the world.

The very mission of the company is to present the culture before the rise of communism—the semi-divine nature of China’s culture.

For decades, the communist regime has systematically tried to root out this culture and replace the traditional Chinese beliefs with its atheist culture of struggle.

“The reason we came the second time is because we loved it so much the first time. … We love the performances, we love the colors, the whole movement, the outfits they wear. It’s—just everything. The way they dance, it’s unbelievable,” Maria Hennek said.

The couple’s daughter loved the dance as well. “She would sit down on the edge of the chair the whole time. … She didn’t take her eyes off the dance. She does dance herself so this for her—she loves it,” Mrs. Hennek  said.

During one segment of the performance, the Creator comes down from the heavens. This, Mr. Hennek said, made him feel “very wonderful. Absolutely, it gives you hope.”

“We don’t get enough of that in society today. It seems that people are strange—too far away from spirituality. And I think that is very good that they bring that culture back, both [into] the art and into entertainment.”

It seems that the only thing Shen Yun could do better is to perform more often: Mr. Hennek encourages Shen Yun to “Keep doing what you are doing. We love you. We would say we’d like to see you more often, and we hope that you continue to do this for many, many years.”