BERLIN—Traditional stage art that merges with innovative 3D projection opens up new dimensions for theatergoers. In Berlin, audiences were surprised by the originality with which the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts brought 5,000 years of Chinese civilization to life.

With warm applause, the audience bid farewell to the Shen Yun, which gave its last performance of the year on the afternoon of Feb. 2nd at the Theater am Potsdamer Platz in Berlin. All performances over the weekend were sold out.

Among the visitors to the afternoon performance on Feb. 2 were Norbert Haas, trumpeter of the Hessischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, and Sibylle Mahni, music professor at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin.

“We have never experienced anything like this before. It was very, very colorful and very varied,” Ms. Mahni said. “Inspiring and very different from what I do.”

Ms. Mahni was particularly impressed by the erhu, an ancient Chinese instrument with two strings. She liked not only the sound, but also the intimate, warm feeling that was conveyed by the melody performed by the erhu virtuoso.

Shen Yun has made it its mission to revive the 5,000-year-old Chinese culture.

“Of course it’s very interesting for us to learn things about China that you might not otherwise learn,” Ms, Mahni said.  “What particularly interests or touches me, of course, is seeing these stories—now in the present day—like dealing with tradition and so on.”

She added, “I find it very tragic that this is not allowed in China.”

The story-based dances Shen Yun includes in its programs span five millennia, telling tales of faith, courage, love, and other universally enduring themes from ancient times up to stories set in the present day, which Ms. Mahni appreciated.

“We all have to deal with history. Our history, what was, is very important in determining the present and the future,” she added.

Ms. Haas’s first visit to Shen Yun was also a special experience. He found the stories told through dance very interesting.

Me. Storek, a pastor, said he found many parallels in the spirituality of ancient China—which draws from Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism—with his own Christian faith.

He described stories depicting deities, heavenly scenes, divine intervention, and battles between good and evil—themes he was well familiar with in Christianity, which is also rife with stories about saints, and Jesus Christ who walked the earth and performed miracles, Mr. Storek said.

“There is both, good and evil. And the deity must intervene again and again so that evil is pushed back,” Mr. Storek said.

He added that it is not a given something that seems religious is shown on stage in this age, and was surprised and pleased with how it so resonated with the audience, who gave these stories a lot of applause. He felt Shen Yun could have a profound effect.

“People get an impulse to think about their lives and our world and ‘up there,’” he said.

He was also pleased to learn that “we Christians are not alone in our faith,” Mr. Storek said.

Mrs. Storek, a music therapist, was very impressed by the 3D stage effects created by an animated screen, which allows the dancers to jump from the stage directly into the sky and back onto the stage again.

“I’m really overwhelmed,” she said, adding that everything was perfectly coordinated.

She was also surprised by tumbling techniques the dancers performed on stage—difficult flips, leaps, and spins from which acrobatics and gymnastic originated—praising the athleticism, costumes, and colors.

“It’s just fantastic!” she said. The music therapist also found the combination of classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments in the orchestra to be really successful and “simply beautiful.”

“It was wonderful, really fascinating, very gigantic and impressive,” Mrs. Etmeh-Fuhrmann said.

She found the stories Shen Yun portrayed through dance to be very varied. Love stories, historical narratives, and scenes taken from real life offer the audience a wide range in which ancient China is presented.

“The whole thing simply transforms Chinese culture into body language, into music. The whole package is simply fascinating,” Mrs. Etmeh-Fuhrmann said.

Her husband agreed, inspired by the values he saw in the stories.

“We need to return to these values. I think that’s important, that’s humanity too. That’s getting lost to a certain extent. Everyone has their problems. There are conflicts in the world. We need to bring that back,” he said. “It was a really great show. The mix of music and performance was great too.”

“The good and the tradition,” added his wife. “The good is what gives us strength and confidence and hope.”

Shen Yun will return to Berlin in March 24 to March 28 at the Berlin Opera.