LOS ANGELES—Newlyweds Lauren Gish and Stuart Cornutt spent a fun and enlightening evening watching the Shen Yun performance at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Jan. 17.

“I love it! It’s very entertaining and the creativity of the things that got my imagination going has been very, very fun,” Stuart Cornutt said. “It’s also very wholesome. I feel like the heart of it is really pure and good.”

Shen Yun Performing Arts is a New York-based classical Chinese dance company. With 5,000 years of Chinese culture that was brought to the brink of extinction by the communist regime, Shen Yun has had a mission since its inception in 2006 to revive this divinely inspired culture.

Mr. Cornutt is a mental health professional and owner of a faith-based counseling firm. “It just makes me think about a lot of things, spiritual things,” he said.

Being a Christian, Mr. Cornutt resonated with the message in the performance. “I’m someone who believes in the Creator as well, and so I believe that there is a heaven, and that we have kind of a similar story in Christianity, of people coming down, descending onto Earth, and that they’re spiritual beings, and that we will one day go to heaven.”

Lauren Gish, a model and actress, shares the same belief with her husband and also felt deeply moved by the spirituality of the show. “It’s a really special moment to see it all come together, very wholesome, like Stu said, very pure,” she said.

Classical Chinese dance has a history of thousands of years, and is one of the most expressive and athletic dance systems in the world.

Ms. Gish thought the Shen Yun dancers were amazing. “The dedication, the hard work, the commitment, the tenacity, the passion that these people have is really inspiring to see,” she said.

Through the arts of dance and music, Shen Yun brings to life the traditional values that were almost lost in today’s China. “I believe in every scene,” she said.