INDIANAPOLIS—New York-based dance company Shen Yun Performing Arts brought to life on stage the magical primate superhero for audience members at Clowes Memorial Hall of Butler Arts Center on Sunday afternoon, including Jeremy Casey, who manages highway building projects in Indiana.

Mr. Casey said he had seen ads previously for Shen Yun, and decided to see the performance this year—just in time for Shen Yun’s 20th anniversary.

“Everybody was super talented, and it was really well put together,” he told The Epoch Times, speaking in the theater after today’s show.

“I loved the Monkey King part,” he said of the character from Chinese mythology. The ancient character has traditionally offered comic relief while showcasing his powers, be it transforming into a kitty cat or taking flight into the clouds—staff in hand and grin unshakable.

Shen Yun says it’s on a mission to revive “China before communism,” which was celebrated for its culture rich in morals and spirituality. It’s a fulfilling goal, Shen Yun’s artists say, since China’s traditional culture was “almost lost” during the destructive Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.

“I do think it’s important for tradition to be remembered and to be passed along, especially stuff from cultures that we might not be familiar with here as much,” Mr. Casey said.

While Shen Yun is banned from performing in mainland China, many in America have applauded the company’s bravery to raise awareness about repression under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through the arts.

Many artists of Shen Yun have directly suffered persecution for their Falun Gong faith—a Buddhist-school meditation practice that teaches living by the virtues of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. They fled China to America for their freedom to believe, and this motivates them to inform audiences around the world of the human rights abuses still happening in China.

Timothy Bennett, a trade auditor, said using the arts was “definitely effective” for “planting the seeds” of awareness about the abuse.

Shen Yun begins with a spectacular retelling of China’s myth of creation. The Creator appears in a cloud-bedecked heavenly scene and leads an entourage of deities down to Earth to play out China’s various dynasties and ethnicities, spanning 5,000 years of culture. The ambitious program follows the culture throughout history, right to the present day. All along the way, there are richly colored costumes and startlingly beautiful choreography.

The dancers don’t speak but rely on the expressiveness of classical Chinese dance to tell their stories.

Bennet found the story “pretty universal” despite its Chinese flavor. “You don’t have to literally come from the same background to see that part of humanity in it,” he said.

For Sarah Brackney, who works in agriculture, the storytelling by Shen Yun’s dancers was powerful enough to draw tears.

“It’s new to me. The way that the dancers are moving is different than anything I’ve seen before,” Ms. Brackney said. “I love it. I cried already.”

The female dancers, wearing their flowing “water sleeves” and appearing to float weightlessly across the stage, really stood out, she said. “Everything flows, and it’s so perfect.”

Speaking of how Shen Yun has successfully bridged the gap between East and West, Mr. Ayres, an analyst, said, “We were actually feeling the similarities with how we were raised and things.

“It’s kind of—I don’t know how to say it—universal, I guess?”