MONTREAL—Lianne Kay brought her eight-year-old niece to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at her niece’s request. Her niece is studying ballet and thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

“This is just so beautiful and breathtaking. Just to see everybody moving and in the same way—synchronized so perfectly. That was wonderful. We loved it,” said Ms. Kay, a consultant.

“My niece really wanted to see it. I wanted her to see it. The acrobats, the physicality of the dance,” she said.

“I’m just learning about [Chinese culture] through visual art and physical art. It’s just been a really nice experience,” Ms. Kay said.

Although the Chinese Communist Party has only held power in China for the past century, most of the world have little recollection of what China was like before the CCP.

“It’s good to learn more about China before communism for sure. So, it’s an education for us as well, which I knew nothing about before I saw it last year. So, I think it’s an important message,” she said.

Ms. Kay was struck by “the fact that the rest of the world can benefit from the show and that they’re not allowed to perform it in China.”