UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill.—Robert and Melissa Sigler were finally able to see Shen Yun on April 10 at the Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University.

Mr. Sigler, who owns an optometry office with his wife, said: “[We waited] to see it for a long time, and we finally made it, and it’s beautiful. Yeah, very good.”

What came to mind while watching the performance, Mr. Sigler said, was “a lot of energy. A lot of energy going on up there.”

Mrs. Sigler, an optometrist, was very impressed with “the dancing and the costumes.”

She also commented on an audience favorite: the 3D backdrop which interacts with the performers as they jump in and out of different dimensions and fly through the sky.

“I loved how they jumped back and forth into the movie. I love that. I’ve never seen anything like that,” she said.

Shen Yun’s mission is to revive China’s amazing 5,000 years of rich culture before communism. Many people in other countries are not aware that the communist regime continues to persecute and suppress spiritual believers.

Mr. Sigler said: “I didn’t realize all those bad things were still going on in China. I feel like Chinese people are being treated badly. You know, it shouldn’t be that way.”

The dances dramatize stories and legends from China’s rich tradition and their connection with the divine. Mr. Sigler appreciated that the Shen Yun hosts introduce the story in the dance.

“They’re neat. They’re fun, the way that they explain them and do all the acting. It’s really good,” he said.

As the curtains open, a scene of great magnificence appears as the Creator comes down from heaven to bestow his blessings on humanity.

“Yes, exactly. That’s what I was thinking: God coming from way out in the heavens and starting earth,” Mr. Sigler said.

For the audience at the Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University on April 10, Shen Yun Performing Arts was a dream come true.

Byron Teran, an insurance entrepreneur, and Carolina Ocampo, who also works in the insurance industry, felt immersed in the beauty of the performance.

He watched Shen Yun as if he was having a beautiful dream. “It’s been a long time that I dreamed awake. I’m dreaming right now,” he said.

He said Shen Yun touched him deeply; he had many feelings while watching: “All of them ... My kids. When I was a child. Family. Childhood. Mother nature. I love it. It touched my heart, my feelings, what you are seeing right now.”

Many of the dancers are Chinese and have left China because of persecution by the communist regime. Mr. Teran noted the difference between “the liberty that we have in the U.S. and the problem you have in your country with the government, with the schools.”

The technical talent and skills of the dancers amazed Mr. Teran. “Oh, they are amazing. They do things that are very difficult movements. And they are synchronized. Very synchronized,” he said.

He was inspired to experience nature after watching dances that showed the beauties of the natural world. “I have to go out more often. It’s been a long time we haven’t gone outside,” he said.

Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5,000 years of China’s traditional culture before communism. Mr. Teran said he felt great respect for the treasure of China’s culture.

“We were talking that time flies and the world is not big; it’s a small one. You can learn about all of [the world’s culture],” he said.

Shen Yun’s dances display universal values and the traditional morality of ancient China. Mr. Teran enjoyed “the history, the culture,” he said. “I like the pigman, the pigman part. It touched my heart that making a comparison and the liberty that we have right now here.”