CINCINNATI, Ohio—For JP Davies, Shen Yun Performing Arts was “the most beautiful spectacle” he has ever seen.

“Everything about it was wonderful,” he said after seeing the performance at the Aronoff Center for the Arts in Cincinnati on Feb. 26.

Based in New York, Shen Yun aims to revive China’s culture that has been all but destroyed through decades of communist rule in China.

The performing arts company presents classical Chinese dance, accompanied by a unique orchestra that combines classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments, hundreds of colorful costumes, and beautiful animated backdrops that create exhilarating scenes and allow interaction with the dancers on stage through a patented technology.

“That’s deeply unfortunate, because it was beautiful—it was beautiful in so many ways,” he said.

Mr. Davies also noted the spiritual aspects in Shen Yun, and how that is relevant in today’s world.

“It’s important to not lose that connection, even though we live in a modern world where things have really changed,” he said. “It’s important to find that connection deep within yourself to express your spirituality. I think the show really brought that to mind—it brought to mind that you need to have that deep spiritual connection, and we should not ever lose touch with that.”

Shen Yun, Mr. Davies said, was “a connection to your spirit, and a visit to a place that we should all visit more often.”

“It was deeply moving,” he said.

“The most important thing I took from the performance was freedom of expression. You need to have freedom to be able to perform and express yourself in a way that’s beautiful and can influence others in a positive way. What they did there was the ultimate [form] of freedom of expression, thematically, and through music and through dance—it was wonderful.”

“It’s absolutely wonderful. It was beautiful,” she said.

“We really enjoyed it.”