“It’s a very uplifting experience. And it’s something that I didn’t know what to expect,” said Mr. Baumann, who saw the performance with his wife, Jackie, at the Venice Performing Arts Center. “I have heard from multiple people separately that it is that kind of an uplifting experience, but I didn’t know how or why until I experienced it.”

Mr. Baumann said the effect Shen Yun had was “very strong, very strong.”

“Amazing. The thing that struck me right off the bat was the color. The music was awesome. And then the way that the dancers interacted with the screen was something I had never seen before. It floored me because it’s something that I'd never seen before. It was totally amazing to watch that,” he added, referring to Shen Yun’s patented animated backdrop.

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and Mr. Baumann’s experience was one many other audience members have echoed, describing it as much more than dance and something one must experience in person for themselves.

Mr. Baumann added that the Chinese communist regime is not just trying to ban Shen Yun in China but all the world over, but that it wasn’t working.

“It’s trying to abolish it everywhere. And I think the free market is, whether they know it or not, I think is standing up to it and saying no, we see tremendous value in this,” he said. “We want to see this type of expression. ... We’re going to watch this because it’s something that needs to be seen.”

“ I felt honored to be able to witness and see the dancers and the dedication that they have put into their not just their culture, but their faith,” she said. “I was just very proud to be here.”

“It was absolutely beautiful,” she said. “The stories, the storyline, the music was exquisite. The dancing was just very, very beautiful,”