ORLANDO, Fla.—Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd saw Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time on May 11, and said it was something he had never experienced before.

“Oh, it’s wonderful,” Mr. Byrd said at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. “It’s very moving.”

“I think it’s a universal message and one that’s very important: that there’s something higher than all of us,” he said.

He was also interested to learn about the situation in China today—vastly different in the few decades under communist rule than the thousands of years when the Chinese believed their culture was divinely inspired. As an American company, Shen Yun is free to shine a light on issues such as the ongoing persecution of people of faith by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“That’s one thing that’s great about America. Everybody can have freedom of conscience and believe that they want to believe,” Mr. Byrd said. “That’s a message that all countries should take to heart.”

Also experiencing Shen Yun for the first time was Karen and Jack Baker, who traveled long and far to see the performance with their family.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since I’ve heard about Shen Yun for a few years,” said Mrs. Baker. “And so when I saw it was going to be in Florida, which we live about seven or eight hours away, I called my son and said, bring your family and meet us. We’re coming down.”

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual meditation that teaches truth, compassion, and forbearance. Its adherents believe in God, and the atheist communist regime has been persecuting these practitioners since 1999.

“It’s a shame that it’s been hijacked by the government over there in China. It’s just an amazing culture, and I think what this shows is the ancient history of China—has probably been one of the oldest cultures,” Mr. Baker said. “The history, it just depresses me that it’s been hijacked by the government over there, but the performance was amazing. The colors, the stage set, the costumes, the dress, they’re just amazing.”

Mrs. Baker said she had a strong feeling during scenes that showed the divine.

“It wasn’t goosebumps that I got, but it was the spirit that I received,” she said. “I didn’t realize how strong the spirit was of the Chinese people, and the shared divinity with Christianity was very enlightening and touching.”

She teared up as she shared something she wanted the artists to hear.

“Keep it up,” she said. “Don’t let any country that wants to deny you forget that you are the truth.