LYON, France—The past week, the Amphithéâtre 3000 sold out in the ancient capital of Gaul, as Shen Yun Performing Arts took to the stage from April 22 to 27.

On Thursday, April 24, Philippe Leininger and his three children came to discover “excellence” with the best of classical Chinese dance and music. The strategy and operations management consultant was delighted to see his children “very attentive” to an “enchanting” show.

“They understand the tableaux well,” he said. “It’s magic, it’s wonderful, it’s superb! A very, very beautiful performance!”

New York-based Shen Yun’s mission is to bring to life the rich traditional culture of China’s 5,000-year history, with a program that showcases a mosaic of ethnic groups and numerous dynasties.

“There are ethnic dances that you discover, from the great Yi family to Tibet. It’s a wonderful way of sharing,” Mr. Leininger said.

The consultant and father went through “different emotions, depending on the scenes,” paying tribute to Shen Yun’s mission: “I think it’s important to be able to share it, to bear witness, to let people discover it, of course. As with any culture, as with any history.”

Mr. Leininiger was also impressed by Shen Yun’s artistic level: “Bravo! Bravo! You can feel the effort, the endurance, the excellence. It’s remarkable!”

Régis and Nancy Diziain drove all the way from the Allier region of France to experience Shen Yun in Lyon.

“It was truly a magical moment,” said Mr. Diziain, a former artisanal cookie producer, who was deeply moved.

“I was deeply moved by everything I saw, especially the ‘Unprecedented Crime’ scene, which brought tears to my eyes. I have to admit it, because it moved me enormously to take in everything behind the Shen Yun show, which is beautiful, which is magnificent, which really takes us into something wonderful. But the whole story behind it really touched me. So, thank you Shen Yun!”

The dance piece Mr. Diziain mentioned exposes the Chinese communist regime’s ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. Since 1999, the Chinese Communist Party has persecuted, imprisoned and tortured to death practitioners of this meditation discipline based on the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance.

Mr. Diziain said he was “fascinated” by Shen Yun. “I was amazed by the perfection. The perfection of the choreography, the perfection of the simultaneity between the orchestra, the special effects, the dancers—it’s magnificent! I have no other words.”

Shen Yun’s artistic level is “excellent,” he added. “You feel, beyond the technical skill, a passion, something very deep, very, very profound. So it’s really wonderful.”

Shen Yun means “the beauty of divine beings dancing.” Indeed, in ancestral traditional China, the Chinese believed in a culture inherited from divinities. So they praised the divine, living in harmony with heaven, earth, and humankind.

Today, Shen Yun artists carry on this noble tradition by following the principles of Falun Dafa: they meditate, study together, and live by the principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance.

This spirituality and connection to the divine, “is something that moves us enormously, and we really felt it,” said Mrs. Diziain, still very moved. “It was a special kind of attention, very much present throughout the show and the performance itself. Now I’m at a loss for words.

Mr. Diziain added, “I’m very happy to see China in this traditional form, which is a far cry from what we see in the news today. So, this 5,000-year-old knowledge that remains here, it’s wonderful.”

For Mrs. Diziain, Shen Yun “can really convey something that is naturally within us: benevolence, kindness, genuine empathy, love for our fellow man.

“It’s a message we'd like to see spread on the right side, so that things aren’t as upside down as we see them today. Yes, but let it be the supreme values, absolutely.”

Grateful, Mr. Diziain said he wanted to thank the Shen Yun artists: “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, really. For their commitment, for their performance, for the heart they put into it! Really, their commitment and loyalty too!”