BERGAMO, Italy—Leonardo Soloperto, a knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, and Julia Bongiorno, a former parliament employee, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Teatro Donizetti on April 5.

“It’s thrilling!” said Sir Leonardo. “Especially for someone like me who read fantasy books or watched the movie of the Three Kingdoms. So practically, this is the transposition of what one imagines, and here you see it [on stage].”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 and is now the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. With eight equally sized companies touring the world simultaneously, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture.

Ms. Bongiorno said that Shen Yun’s mission is important, and praised the performance for sharing Chinese culture—which she described as spectacular—with the world.

Some of the values Shen Yun seeks to promote are truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Sir Leonardo said that “if it were possible to spread [these principles] to all, we would certainly obtain a better outcome of what we have right now.”

Sir Leonardo also said that Chinese culture “allows you to interact with others, consequently, to have a greater empathy and a greater sensibility.”

Sir Leonardo and Ms. Bongiorno praised other elements of Shen Yun’s performance as well, as well as the soprano, who performed a song in the traditional bel canto style, and Shen Yun’s patented animated backdrop, which allows performers to move between the stage and the background.

“Expectional!“ said Sir Leonardo of the backdrop. ”This interaction between the digital and the material, it’s truly well made!”

Lastly, Ms. Bongiorno encouraged the performers to “take [their] message forward with this great skill.”