CINCINNATI, Ohio—Shen Yun Performing Arts performed at the Aronoff Center for the Arts on March 2.

“I sit here and watch obviously very talented dancers, very talented with everything they’ve got going on, but I get to see this from the standpoint of a painter,” he said. “I’m really into looking at the different palette that I get to see up on the stage as the dancers are dancing.”

Mr. Blandford liked many aspects of the performance. “I like it quite a bit—I’m not one that gets out to the theater very often; I got this for her as a birthday gift, but I wanted to do something that was different that we haven’t been experiencing, so we came here,” he said.

Another visual part of the performance that intrigued Mr. Blandford was the 3D animated backdrop. “I see the immersiveness of the video background and the dancers and actors going back and forth into the screen, out of the screen. The timing is beautiful.”

As the dancers told the story of the Monkey King, Mr. Blandford said he soon caught on to what was happening. “The one about the Monkey King was very interesting, the way they were trying to tell that story.

“I found myself trying to understand exactly what was being told, and then I suddenly understood the communication that was going on and what they were trying to convey. So I really enjoyed that one more than any of them. But each one of them was a different type of message, so it was a lot that I enjoyed—from one to another—they were all different. It wasn’t the same.”

“And then communism comes along, and it becomes very restrictive as to what you can express and not express, so that’s the one thing that definitely stands out from a political point,” Mr. Blandford said.

“You can’t see this performance in China because the communist [regime] certainly doesn’t want them to convey those messages to the people there, and kind of trying to keep them down and uninformed,” he said.

The spiritual message was not lost on Mr. Blandford. “I see the commonalities. I think from a standpoint of relating from heaven and the Creator, and what’s going on in different parts of any country in the world, I think it’s all very, very relatable.”

“So I think just the way they brought about, through dance, those emotions, and those stories and how it connects with people, like I said, [I’m] overwhelmed so far.”

Although the stories come from a different culture, Mr. Inman resonated with their message. “I think the way it connects with me is that these are real people’s hearts.”

He said the experience was immediate and very real. “It’s not like it’s a distant picture that I’m watching on the television. It’s talking to me, you know, and I think all these experiences that they’re showing are things that we’ve all felt and experienced.”

“I think what it’s telling me is like China and the culture is so much bigger than communism, which is what we’re experiencing right now in the day-to-day in the newspapers. I think it’s like more enduring than a flash-in-the-pan communism, but it’s bigger than [communism],” he said.

Mr. Inman said the spiritual message clearly. “I felt connected with that message. I’m also spiritual, so to me, it’s like, ‘Wow! They’re singing my song.’”

He was pleased with the beautiful spiritual message. “I think it was more spiritual than even I was thinking. I’m definitely not offended because people got different ways to get in touch with their God, and I think it was really nice to see that,” he said.

The singer touched him deeply. “What was interesting, the guy that sang, and as the man stood on the stage and told that story, it really left me and my wife, we just looked at each other, like—beautiful!”