“Our belief is a little different, but generally the same message and that there’s hope beyond. That’s what we agree with. And that was nice to see, to express that it’s not as hopeless as it seems. It was just beautiful,” said Ms. Spannbauer.

“Keep it up yeah, a lot of hard work went into it. You can tell it wasn’t an overnight thing, they’ve put in a lot of blood and sweat. That they can be proud of what they’re doing,” said Mr. Spannbauer, who is retired.

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

Classical Chinese dance is much more complex than a series of movements. When done right, dancers can give off the impression of floating across the stage.

“The beauty, the lightness, it was just amazing. The control of the body. And the stories, of course. The meaning behind it,” Ms. Spannbauer said.

“Every dance had a story. I thought that was very nice,” Mr. Spannbauer said.

“The creator coming and fixing everything. That’s the only solution,” Mr. Spannbauer said.