LAS VEGAS—Chinese history is one of the longest running histories in the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts is giving the world a good look at the beauty of traditional Chinese culture.

“I think both of us are great admirers of traditional Chinese culture and the Chinese people. We just believe that they’ve been suppressed with an attempt to destroy those traditions by the present regime,” said John Forry, who works in finance.

Shen Yun is based in New York and its mission is to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture through dance and music. Since the Chinese Communist Party came into existence about a century ago, it has tried to systematically destroy Chinese culture.

“But this movement is a very good example that they probably won’t succeed. That around the world, people are aware of traditional Chinese performances, but also traditional values. Social values,” Mr. Forry said.

Shen Yun’s artists are trained in classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.

“I’m enjoying the performance. I enjoy the dance and the acrobatics, and I enjoy the storylines, too,” said John Adair, a writer.

Mr. Adair really enjoyed the ladies’ dancing. Especially the small, quick steps that they use called yuan chang.

“I love the women dancing. I love their small steps that they take. And then the men’s acrobatic was very impressive. The ones where they did the double and triple flips, very impressive just from a physical stamina point of view. Very impressive,” he said.

One particular dance story portrays the modern-day tale of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted for their faith. Shen Yun has been acting as a voice for Falun Gong practitioners since 2006.

“I’ve done business inside and outside with Chinese businesses and I’m very interested in the Falun Gong movement. We follow closely the actions of that group in the United States,” Mr. Forry said.

Aside from classical Chinese dance, Shen Yun’s dancers are also experts of Chinese ethnic and folk dances.

“The performances are beautiful. And they do combine different dance forms from different cultures and it’s been very impressive. The expressiveness of the dancing is very good. It doesn’t need words,” he said.

Shen Yun’s live orchestra is a unique combination of traditional Chinese instruments and a classic Western ensemble.

“The music itself is very beautiful,” Mr. Forry said.