“Very majestic, very trance-like,” is how Mr. Vigil, who works in multimedia, described the waving fabric of the female dancers. It feels like “you’re flowing in water yourself with all their dancing,” he said.

“I really enjoyed the synchronization between the animation to live performance,” Vigil said.

Tina Le, a manager in a semiconductor company, witnessed the curtains lift and clouds billow forth as a scene from heaven opened before the audience.

“No words to describe it,” she said. “We were trying to figure out, okay, what’s going on? ... It’s not 3D, it’s just like 10D or something.”

But beyond the visuals, Ms. Le and thousands of others saw scenes recreated through ancient dance forms that are thousands of years old. In one piece depicting a story from the modern day, members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are seen persecuting practitioners of the spiritual discipline Falun Gong meditating in a park.

“We read so much about communist countries like Vietnam or China and everything that’s going on,” Ms. Le said. “I’m Vietnamese myself,” she added. “We don’t support ... what’s happening in China.”

Harish Kishor, a self-described Buddhist meditator, watched Shen Yun on the same night as Ms. Le and shared how he was moved by what he saw onstage.

“I kind of feel sad about the Chinese government because I don’t see that much political motivation of why [Shen Yun] isn’t allowed in China,” he said. “It is definitely something that should be spread to the world. It’s something that would help all humans.”

Shruti Kishor, an architect who watched the show with Mr. Kishor, was also impressed. A dancer herself, she said the Shen Yun dancers scored a “10 out of 10” in her books. “It’s inspiring me to go back to my dance class every Sunday.”