VIENNA—It is a special moment when the curtain rises on a performance that is presented simultaneously by eight ensembles around the world. The audience can expect perfect aesthetics and dance technique as well as an orchestra that fuses Eastern and Western sound worlds. Every year, all of this is centered around stories from a 5,000-year-old civilization that are to be rediscovered.

On the afternoon of Jan. 23, Shen Yun gave its first performance in German-speaking countries as part of the 2025 world tour. In the Vienna Stadthalle, the audience experienced an evening full of beauty and hope.

Peter Benovic, a classical guitar teacher from Lower Austria, summed up his impression of Shen Yun with a quote from Dostoyevsky: “Beauty will save the world.” He is convinced that people must absorb the beauty in music, dance, and the visual arts. Only then will there be hope, or salvation, for the world.

The piece, original to Shen Yun, was characteristic of Chinese music but new to European ears, according to Mr. Benovic.

A story-based dance set in present-day China that shone a light on the communist regime’s persecution of people of faith also rang familiar to the Benovics.

“I think that people who have not experienced this totalitarian system [...] cannot feel it like we do, or like the Chinese who live in China,” Mr. Benovic said. Mrs. Benovic’s father was imprisoned for eight years, and her uncle for 11 years.

Mrs. Benovic added that she appreciates the splendor of Shen Yun’s colors and unique use of color combinations.

“The interplay of colors, this pink and light green, was unique. And what I liked so much [was] the images on the screen. Pink or pink trees were constantly blossoming, which was very beautiful. Impressive,” she said.

Also in the audience was Anna Rolinek, formerly a dancer at the Vienna State Opera, who said she values cultural traditions and was pleased to have learned so much valuable information about traditional Chinese culture. She had traveled from Burgenland especially for this evening, a total of 400 km. Her companion, a school friend, had told her about Shen Yun.

“Wonderful, wonderful. So precise—really something beautiful,” Ms. Rolinek said.

The music moved Ms. Rolinek as well, and she spoke highly of a song sung by a bel canto virtuoso that spoke of traditional values and faith in contrast to modern atheism.

“It’s something very calm and very true—very true. You don’t have to be religious, there’s truth in it,” she said.

The erhu was something special, too. “It’s really beautiful, you feel like you’re in heaven,” she said.

The two women said they would like to be there again next year when Shen Yun presents a new program.

“It’s done really well, very well,” he said.

He is not surprised that Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in its own country. But he finds it an incredible shame. “This country has so much to offer, especially the different cultures,” he said.