OTTAWA—Michael Adams, a retired banker, and Elsa Adams, a homemaker, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the National Arts Centre on April 19.

“This is our first time to Shen Yun,” Mr. Adams said. “We weren’t quite sure what to expect but it’s exceeding our expectations in every way.”

“I love the transition from the screen to the human and back into the screen, it’s just spectacular,” Mrs. Adams said.

Shen Yun’s patented animated backdrop allows performers to move seamlessly between the stage and background, and has long been a favorite among the audience.

[It’s] magnificent,“ Mr. Adams said. ”The costume changes, the dancing, the singing, the sets are just phenomenal. Fantastic.”

Since its inception in 2006, New York-based Shen Yun has grown from one to eight equally-sized companies that tour the world simultaneously, realizing its mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and show the world “China before communism” through classical Chinese dance and music.

Mr. Adams said that he felt inspired to learn more about traditional Chinese culture after seeing Shen Yun.

“They are so talented,” Mr. Adams said. “It’s wonderful to be able to hear them so well and to watch them play. Especially the drums, harpists, and the strings.”

Shen Yun’s program includes story-based dances, some of which are set in modern-day China and depict the perseverance of people of faith in the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of beliefs.

“It’s the happy ending ... to that particular piece that gives us all hope, [even] when there’s violence and persecution,” Mr. Adams said. “There’s still hope that someday we can find our way through it to a happier time.”