BALTIMORE—Blaine Welkr, a contractor, and Amber Hyde, an insurance manager, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at The Hippodrome Theatre on March 16.

“Everything was beautiful,” Ms. Hyde said. “The colors and the material, the singing—everything. ... I haven’t been to a show like this, so everything was wonderful.”

“I think it’s always very important to keep a tradition or revive a tradition,” said Ms. Hyde, who was most impressed by “the soul of the show.”

Mr. Welkr described Shen Yun’s music, which is performed by a live orchestra, as “very soothing.”

“The music was very nice,” he said. “You could feel it ... soothing your soul.”

“That was impressive—the 3D screen,” Mr. Welkr said.

“That was innovative,” Ms. Hyde said. “It seemed different.”

In addition to dance vignettes, Shen Yun’s program also includes story-based dances, some of which depict the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of followers of faith. Ms. Hyde said that the depiction was “extremely important because it lets other people know what’s happening in [China].”

Mr. Welkr said that after he watched Shen Yun, he gained “an admiration of the culture and the work that the performers put in.”

“The skill that they had and their dedication—obviously they sacrifice to be here doing that,” he said.