CALGARY, Canada—Business owner Eric Grand-Maison and his wife, Amanda Grand-Maison, who is a stay-at-home mom and homeschool teacher, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts for the third time at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on March 11.

“We really appreciate it,” said Mr. Grand-Maison. “The classical dance is very nice, but also the story that to have a free society, we do need freedom of religion [and] freedom of expression.”

“The message behind [Shen Yun], it just comes through really clear,” said Mrs. Grand-Maison. “It gets me every time I see it. It just kind of tears me up … the fact that this show can’t even be shown in China right now. It’s just so beautiful in the culture, and it’s just wonderful. I’m so thankful for it.”

“You’re being more honest and more genuine with people around you when you’re not being forced to do something against your will,” said Mr. Grand-Maison on the topic of communist oppression. “That’s where atheism and communism go together. People are not acting normal, and it’s kind of gripping into our society now with wokeism and pretending and a lot of fallacies.”

Shen Yun’s program includes story-based dances, some of which are set in modern-day China and depict the Chinese regime’s persecution of followers of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

Speaking of the spirituality portrayed in Shen Yun, Mr. Grand-Maison said, “It shows that we have to answer for our life, and [that] every good thing comes from God.”

“Every good thing comes from the Creator,” he said. “All that we have around us is designed. Nothing comes by accident, and when we accept that, we love one another. ... We will have to answer for what we did, but if we choose to humble ourselves before the God and Creator who made us, how much better our lives are, and we get blessings because of that. That’s the message that I hear in Shen Yun as well. As Christians, we agree with the message of Shen Yun.”

Mr. Grand-Maison also talked about the gap between Western and Chinese societies and how, despite differences, there are values that should be shared.

“I think, especially in Western culture, we’re not aware of as much about what goes on in Chinese culture, and what China stands for today,” said Mr. Grand-Maison. “In communist China, the God is money, and that’s the really sad part because the love of money is the root of all evil. … Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion [are] the fundamentals to a free society.”

Mr. and Mrs. Grand-Maison brought friends to see the performance like they did in previous years.

“We tell everybody about it,” said Mrs. Grand-Maison. “I think everybody should see this show.”