“I’m a life-long Christian and I love people who love the spirit, who love God, and that is what I see in Shen Yun. I see people who are unafraid to love their God and that is what I appreciate,” he said.

Shen Yun presents China’s 5,000 years of a divinely-inspired culture, where it was once believed that heavenly beings walked among mortals. Ancient Chinese society also believed that culture was a gift from the Gods.

“And where would we be without that,” Olson added, “because without spirit, we have nothing to guide us, other than other people telling us what to do.”

Shen Yun left Olson feeling rejuvenated.

“We thought this would be a wonderful way to remind ourselves of what’s going on in China,” he said.

Based in New York, Shen Yun plays throughout the world but has been banned by the Chinese communist regime from performing in China.

Shen Yun dances showcase classical stories that exalt the virtues of China’s spiritual civilizations, which people have said they still find relevant for society today.

“I think we forget about our freedoms that we have in this country, or that they have in Taiwan. The reality is, we’re right at a crux in our society … where we’re starting to stamp out the ability to be able to say something that doesn’t toe the line,” Miller said.

“And I think this is a stark reminder of just how it can be, if we’re not watching ourselves carefully to allow real diversity of opinion. And that, sometimes, means opinions that don’t go along with what we read in the newspapers or what the government says is the right thing to believe.”

“I think that gives people the idea that you should watch yourself, try to remember the divine inside of you, and try to live a good, clean life ... be kind to others [and] do as you would like to be judged in the afterlife.”