“It was awesome! It touched the spirit. You can tell it was very heartfelt. You just feel the energy, it was coming from a good place. You can tell the [performers] were completely [immersed] in it,” he said.

He also thought Shen Yun’s music was “very soothing and pleasant to the soul. Very uplifting.”

In his business, Mr. Muratore said he works with Chinese manufacturers and so “it was nice to get connected with the culture, see how cool it is, and have it brought to America.”

In fact, for reviving traditional culture and speaking the truth about what is going on in modern-day Chinese society, Shen Yun is banned from performing in China.

As a Christian, Mr. Muratore said Shen Yun’s mission really resonated with him. “I think they’re good values. I got the message about China before communism. It’s a great message to the American people.”

“I think a lot of people need to see this. It would be good for everybody,” he said.

Also in the audience was Roger Hallman. As a computer security researcher, he was fascinated by Shen Yun’s innovative 3-D backdrop.

“I noticed that [the technology] is patented, so I’m looking forward to going back and looking it up,” he said.

According to its website, Shen Yun’s 3-D projection brings the audience instantly into the story “by extending the stage to infinite realms.” With seamless cooperation between projection and performers, this technology allows for “storytelling without limits.”

“I firmly believe that if we don’t have a sense of where we come from, we become unmoored and adrift. You can go to a terrible place if that happens,” he said. “I appreciate the spirituality of it all. We live in a very secular time and, too often, our spirituality is forgotten. It’s nice to see a performance where that is very prominent.”

Mr. Hallman said he will be telling his family and friends back home that “[Shen Yun] is well worth coming to, and you will be enriched. This was our first time, it will not be the last. We will be coming back.”