“I believe that what Shen Yun asks to bring today is very topical,” said Mr. Armentano, who attended the performance with Simona Gardelli at Teatro Verdi the evening of April 10. “Very fascinating.”

“Very beautiful, I like the costumes, especially the costumes, the music,” said Ms. Gardelli. “Very beautiful, very fascinating.”

Before communism, “it was definitely better,” Mr. Armentano said.

“[It] brings to mind a millenary history that we probably need to know,” Mr. Armentano said.

“I believe morality is a great value not only to be told today but to be told in the future ... altruism, the sense of community, the sense of helping yourself when you find yourself in difficulty.”

Also in the audience was Camilla Baccherini, an artist, who felt the colors, aesthetics she saw in Shen Yun were a new world—different from the Western art with which she was familiar, but beautiful all the same.

“Indeed, it gives the impression of a divine culture,” said Ms. Baccherini. “Very, very beautiful.”