CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Ted Maziejka, a consultant, and his wife Leslie Maziejka watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center on March 2.

“We had a great two hours!” said Mr. Maziejka.

“Beautiful people; what they can do was just amazing!” said Mrs. Maziejka

“I like the divinity of it,” said Mrs. Maziejka. “[It] gives you a lot of hope, uplifting your spirit when you’re watching.”

Mr. Maziejka said that to him, Shen Yun’s most important message was that “we have hope. We are the beautiful children of God.”

“This could give a lot of hope, great inspiration,” he said. “If this message could get to many people, you would see a different world.”

Also in the audience were Joe Pharr, an engineer and project manager, and Irene Pharr, a coffee shop owner.

“It was interesting to see all the work that goes into the choreography, the synchronization of all the dance and the acrobatics and all that, that’s really cool,” said Mr. Pharr.

“There are too many things that people aren’t supposed to say, or people are afraid to do it, so we always appreciate when people are willing to step out there and tell the truth,” said Mr. Pharr.

“I think it’s very important,” Mr. Pharr continued. “Entertainment is used to convey too many messages that I think are irrelevant and really kind of superfluous. But something like that is actually really meaningful.”

“It touches on the beauty of the culture, but then also all the atrocities that are happening right now.”