SANTA BARBARA—Anna Korte, a director in education, and her aunt Marlene Johansing enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the Granada Theatre on the afternoon of March 23, and Ms. Korte felt the performance had unique educational value.

Ms. Korte noted its educational value, which she said was imparted through enjoyable stories with some explanation, and noted that the performance highlighted traditional culture and values like kindness.

David Martinez, an attorney, was inspired by the performance and the artists themselves.

“I thought it was wonderful,” he said. He had seen the advertisements for years and finally caught a performance that afternoon with his wife and sister.

“It’s way beyond most people,” he added. “And it made me wonder, what is the state of mind of these people up there? Like, they’re at a different way of being, I think, a higher being.”

“Very spiritual,” he said, describing as an example an ethnic dance of the Yi people—one of China’s 50-some ethnic minority groups—which depicted their way of life, mindset, and connection with nature and the divine.

He said he greatly admired the work of the dancers, “their tenacity and their courage to go up there and give their best short at an incredible performance without making a mistake.

“I’m just amazed,” he said. “The whole coordination [between the dance and orchestra] and how it all worked together was inspiring.”

Paul Lauer, founder and president of a major movie marketing company, was also in the audience.

“I just like the fact that they bring that into the show,” he said.

“It’s interesting that they tell the stories of persecution through an entertaining story,” he explained.