WASHINGTON, D.C.—Marcos Peralta, Vice President of MasterCard, his wife Fabiana Peralta, architect and painter, and their twin granddaughters, Guadalupe and Fatima, all felt a divine spark throughout the entirety of the Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 27.

“This is one of the best things I’ve seen in a long, long period of time … it has been wonderful,” said Mr. Peralta.

Not knowing that Shen Yun is based out of New York and presents story-based dances that span 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture, Mr. Peralta thought he was just going to see a “Chinese ballet” but was exceptionally surprised.

“I didn’t expect something like this … it was really deep,” he said “I felt connected with God several times during the performance.”

“The mix of the performance and the message behind the performance … makes it extra powerful,” he said.

Mr. Peralta enjoyed how Shen Yun incorporated lessons of virtue through ancient China’s divinely inspired culture.

“There are a lot of things that surround us that take us away from that right path. You need to stay on that path, going back to the divine.”

According to the company’s website, Shen Yun has preserved the true aesthetics of this classical dance system—the way it has been passed down from antiquity—and presents this authentic culture in its purest form.

“This music heals,” she said, “I feel [it] healing people.”

The Shen Yun orchestra is the first in the world to permanently combine classical Western and Chinese instruments within a Western symphony orchestra. Shen Yun also boasts virtuoso vocalists who sing Chinese lyrics using the bel canto style.

“It felt personal, the way she was singing,” she said, “I felt a lot of emotions behind the song, and there were several times … I wanted to cry.”

Guadalupe’s twin sister was also very moved by the power and spirituality of Shen Yun.

Domenic Savini, assistant director of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, returned to see Shen Yun for a second year. This time, he brought his entire family to see the matinee performance at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 27.

“These principles are so important, and for me, I’m so happy my grandchildren are here, and even many adults, because we [have] forgotten that we are made in the image of the divine.”

“And because we are made in the creator’s image … we need to treat each other with respect and love … as the Falun Dafa teaches with the truthfulness, the compassion,” he added, “and this is what we’ve forgotten in the world today.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a persecution against the practice in 1999, and adherents have since been subjected to unprecedented imprisonment, torture, and abuse.

“The performance is brilliant … and it’s just so beautiful!”

Laura Caspar, assistant state’s attorney for Maryland, her husband Joseph Caspar, trooper and former sergeant, her mother Virginia Heim, and their dogwalker Raven Jefferson attended Shen Yun for the second time on Jan. 27 at The Kennedy Center Opera House.

Ms. Caspar loved this year’s emphasis on spirituality as well as themes of the persecution currently happening in China.

“The fact that … the creator has always been there, and is still here, and will be here, is very powerful to me,” she said, “I love that the entire show kept that spirit of divinity in it—throughout the whole show.”

As a lawyer, she said she has trouble getting her mind off her work, but during the show, she said she was completely at peace.

“My head never gets out of work, but I get in there, and I didn’t think about it at all,” she said, “I was just very, very absorbed … it was beautiful.”