OTTAWA, Canada—Costco executive Pierre Poirier arrived on April 14 at the National Arts Centre to enjoy Shen Yun Performing Arts for the fourth time.

“It’s such a beautiful and peaceful and spiritual experience. It never disappoints.”

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 by elite Chinese artists who had fled the persecution of the communist party.

“[The show] is very touching, and it finds us deep in our hearts. It’s such a beautiful production. We’ll be back again, for sure.”

Also in the audience were psychotherapist Kelly McGuire and physician Marielena DiBartolo. The friends, too, enjoyed the show.

“It was amazing. It was absolutely breathtaking. The opening [dance piece] brought tears to my eyes—it was so beautiful. I loved the spirituality that was brought into it,” Ms. McGuire exclaimed.

“It was lovely, definitely a lot of beautiful storytelling and a lot of culture. It was spiritual messages and beauty all rolled into one. Loved it.”

“I could feel —almost like a higher dimension of energy when the singers were singing. It was beautiful, like a conversation between the dancers, the singers, and the audience,” she said.

“I noticed that whenever [the performers] were doing a scene that was more spiritually infused, the colors themselves almost jumped off the stage. It was like the colors were alive.”

According to the company’s website, when translated from Chinese, the name “Shen Yun” literally means “the beauty of divine beings dancing.” Ms. McGuire couldn’t agree more with this description.

For her, the traditional values introduced by the artists during the show— truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance—are very important.

“I think it’s a good message to bring and to share with different countries so that we can all learn about each other’s cultures. That helps to breed more compassion and less fear,” she said.