HOUSTON—Grace and elegance characterize feminine women, and Karla Graham saw those qualities in the female dancers of Shen Yun Performing Arts.

“One of my favorite things was the femininity of the women,” said Ms. Graham, who volunteers at a children’s program. “They were just so beautiful and graceful. I think that’s one of the things that we’ve lost—the beauty and the femininity of the woman.”

Ms. Graham was accompanied by Garrett Graham, president of client services at a tax company, who was also struck by the beauty of Shen Yun.

“Beauty was the thing that just permeates this whole thing. What they said about the divine coming through dance was very moving to me,” he said.

One dance that resonated with the Grahams was “The Ladies’ Classical Chinese Dance,” which exemplifies femininity.

“We have a glimpse of the divine through the beauty. It’s like the beauty is what elevates you to the divine. We’ve lost a lot of that in this culture—the loveliness about this,” Ms. Graham said.

“The Pigsy; there was some comedy in there that actually surprised me,” she said.

“The thing that amazed me also was the use of the multimedia—the screen. It was just amazing. You see this graceful woman here, then she flies up,” Mr. Graham said.

Shen Yun’s live orchestra is a unique combination of a Western orchestral ensemble and traditional Chinese instruments.

“I enjoyed the music very much, I liked the harp, of course. [I] particularly [liked] the lady that did the two-string,” Mr. Graham added.