PITTSBURGH—Chris Treib, vice president of a company, and Mary Treib, an elementary school teacher, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 27.

“I like the energy, feeling the history, [and] getting to know the culture,” said Mr. Treib. He said what stood out to him was “the artistry, the detail of every move, and the integration of the screen.”

Mr. and Mrs. Treib both agreed that Shen Yun’s mission was important.

Mr. Treib said that Shen Yun “dispels the common belief of the Chinese Communist Party being everywhere in China” and shows that “not all Chinese people are reflected by [communist] culture and ... they all have a deep spiritual heritage.”

“It’s good to see the beautiful culture ... [it] is not just about communism that many people think of right now,” Mrs. Treib added. “There is a beautiful culture that needs to be preserved.”

“You can’t erase your history,” said Mr. Treib. “If you lose your history, you lose your identity.”

“I think it’s absolutely important to know who we are. The world that we live in is lost in its identity. It doesn’t know—really the purpose or why we’re here. I think without our history, we lose all that. We get lost in the confusion.”

“Both reject atheism, both reject evolution. Those are probably the two biggest lies that have destroyed our culture.”

“It’s a way for people to think about where they came from, what their purpose is, and why they do the things they do,” he said. “I think every culture looks for good morality, and we saw that in the stories here.”