VENICE, Fla.—James and Barbara Ilardi experienced Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time on Jan. 26 at the Venice Performing Arts Center, and, like many audience members, felt trailers and reviews did not come close to capturing what a performance is really like.

“You have to see it to believe it. It’s really wonderful,” said Mr. Ilardi, a retired executive in the insurance sector.

Mr. Ilardi felt it was a multifaceted performance of dance, storytelling, humor, [and] beauty, and Mrs. Ilardi, a retired health analyst, agreed.

The presentation of this divinely inspired culture impressed the Ilardis, who thought the innovative stagecraft and production quality to be fantastic and wonderful.

“The whole show was fantastic. It was expertly choreographed. The music was amazing. I didn’t even realize it was live music until halfway through the show. It was just wonderful,” Mr. Ilardi said.

Then there was the use of an animated backdrop, patented technology of Shen Yun’s own design, which Mr. Ilardi said he had never experienced before.

“That’s very unique, very original,” he said.

“Their efforts are wonderful,” Mrs. Ilardi said. “Look at how many people were in the seats. It was filled.”

Mr. Ilardi expressed his support for the mission as well.

“It’s a wonderful message, really nice message to send to people. You know, it doesn’t matter what faith you are.  I think it’s just a very beautiful, peaceful message that the company is sending out,” he said. “The message is that, you know, we’re all very special here, and we’re here for a reason. And we should celebrate that and aspire to other things beyond this world.”