“I was even aiming to go all the way to the U.S. to watch it! But, finally, it came to my hometown of Birmingham. It’s a beautiful show. It reflects how China used to be in the past, something that the whole world doesn’t know much about,” he said.

Dr. Abdalla commented on the topic of those whose faiths are suppressed.

“The Divine belief is important. It cannot be just wiped out by the political regimes or for any reason. If people have some kind of spirituality in themselves, that kind of feeling should be respected and also preserved by people. And it is the real essence of humanity,” he said.

Shen Yun is a New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company traveling the world each year to present a vision of China before communism.

“The history, the culture, each and every display had its unique and beautiful message to the whole world—to celebrate the real China!—something that made me feel very proud of myself and I brought my family with me to watch it as well. And I hope to come back and watch it again because I heard that every year there’s a new program.“

Donnie and Helene Gordon both work at the Ministry of Defense. They treated each other to the show as a 19th-anniversary present.

Mrs. Gordon’s heart went out to those whose faiths are suppressed.

“The oppression is quite shocking, even though I know it was portrayed through the dance, I didn’t actually realize just how bad it was for people to not be able to celebrate that part of their culture, which is quite sad when you think about it,” said Mrs. Gordon. “I really hope at some point you'll be able to go back to China and relive that, and teach that to the younger children,” she said.

“Honesty, strength, courage, and being true to oneself regardless of the adversity that’s going on around was really prominent throughout [the program],” she added. “It’s so admirable that people stand up to that oppression.”

Reporting by NTD and Lily Zhou.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.