JACKSONVILLE, Fla.—Pharmacy manager James Butler and his wife, Magdalena, a gym owner, had a memorable experience at Shen Yun Performing Arts’ evening show at Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 27.

“It was beautiful. The costumes, the music, and the special effects—they were just spectacular,” Mrs. Butler said. “I love the colors. I love the movement. I love how light everybody was on their feet.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun artists are masters of classical Chinese dance, an ancient and highly expressive art form dating back thousands of years. Unlike the modern, military-influenced styles often seen in China today, Shen Yun preserves and performs this tradition in its most authentic form, as it was originally passed down through generations.

Mr. Butler, too, enjoyed every aspect of the performance and was particularly moved by Shen Yun’s live music, which blends Eastern melodies and solo Chinese instruments with a full Western orchestra.

“The traditional Chinese music and the dance was very impressive, and I thought it was very beautiful in relation to the culture. It was gorgeous,” he said. “We were very impressed with the special effects of [the performers] going into the screen and coming back. It was very nice.”

According to the company’s website, Shen Yun’s innovative digital technology creates seamless interaction between the backdrop projection and the performers on stage. “By extending the stage to infinite realms,” this patented 3D invention brings to the audience “storytelling without limits.”

Mr. Butler also appreciated Shen Yun’s bilingual hosts. Their brief introductions before each piece made it easier for audience members unfamiliar with traditional Chinese culture to follow and enjoy the stories being told.

“It was very well done to try to just prepare you for what you were about to see. I think it guided everybody into each performance,” he said.

As Catholics, the couple resonated deeply with Shen Yun’s spiritual elements. The message was especially meaningful for Mrs. Butler.

“There was a lot about God and divine beings and salvation, and the values that we need to hold on to as human beings. That was very similar to what we practice and what we believe in,” she said. “Good moral values, faith, and traditions.”

Reflecting on the artists’ mission to bring back China’s 5,000 years of divinely-inspired culture that was all but destroyed by decades of communist rule, and to raise awareness about the ongoing persecution of people of faith in China, Mrs. Butler expressed her sympathy.

The couple was originally from Bulgaria, so they know firsthand the hardships of living under communist rule.

“I love the story [about] communism. We had 45 years of communism in Bulgaria, and we’ve still not recovered. I know exactly what that can do and the damage that it does to the culture, to the religion, to the freedom,” Mrs. Butler said.

“There’s a lot of similarities with the government interfering with the freedom of speech and religion. I am familiar with that side, and so I appreciate very much what America has to offer us.”

Mr. Butler added that, “at the end of the day, everybody wants to be kind and good to their fellow man.”

“I think this was illustrated very well through a lot of the performance,” he said. “I saw a lot of parallels. I thought it was a beautiful culture, and I think that through dance and performance, it allows all of the people performing to hold those cultural values true to their hearts. It was beautiful. It’s good to see that from the outside.”