“Perfection, grace, beauty, hard work, concentration, design of the outfits, the sleeves and the meaning and the religion and the dedication that the artists have. That’s how we artists are. We work long hours, we dedicate our lives to the art form itself,” Ms. Desinger, a soprano, said.

“The dancing is very stylized but very fresh at the same time. And I really appreciate the stylization of the costumes, and the dance moves, and the storylines. It’s all well appreciated,” Mr. Fanucci, a pianist, said.

“This is wonderful. The combination of the Western music and the Chinese element goes together very well. I really appreciate what they’ve accomplished here. And to think that they put a whole new program together every year is just totally amazing to me,” Mr. Fanucci said.

Each piece is tailored to the dance it accompanies. Ms. Desinger could hear how the character of the music changed with each dance.

“What comes forth as a musician is I’m hearing masculine musical writing, and then the men are dancing, and then the women come in, and the orchestration changes to a more feminine quality. It makes me happy,” she said.

The soprano on stage impressed Ms. Desinger with her powerful voice. “[She] sings very properly and technically correct. Very powerful, very good.”

“Between the screen and the actors—the technical difficulties of this show are very apparent. We have to be stage left, stage right, jump up correctly on spot, meet the screen, and jump down in the time for the technicians back here to spring the character back onto the screen. It’s stunning and that’s technical,” Ms. Desinger observed.

Shen Yun’s truthful depiction of present-day China has made the performing arts company unable to perform in China.

“China is missing out by not having this. So hopefully it will come back someday and can return,” Ms. Desinger said.