INDIANAPOLIS—Dawn Brockman, a retired HR executive, saw Shen Yun Performing Arts on Feb. 22 at Belk Theater at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

“From the music to the dance to the acrobatics, it was all stunning! Just a beautiful visual presentation,” Ms. Brockman said.

Ms. Brockman believes strongly in freedom of religion, so one particular Shen Yun dance depicting the crimes of the Chinese Communist Party left a deep impression on her.

“I am a person who is a strong believer in the freedom of religion, and the crackdown in China on religion is so heartbreaking to me that I love the fact that you’re doing what you’re doing,” she said.

Observing America’s trend towards socialism, Ms. Brockman said, “I don’t think many Americans understand that [communism] comes in with a lovely promise and ends up with horrible destruction of a culture, faith, and everything that goes with it.”

“The water sleeves [dance] was outstanding,” Mr. Schmidt, a retired pilot, said.

Ms. Schmidt admired how Shen Yun was able to address the human rights atrocities in China in an elegant way.

She commended Shen Yun’s “grace” and “creativity” when presenting “something that’s so horrible.”

“I’m aware of [what] the [Chinese] people have gone through. This has gone on for a long time and has not been addressed,” she said.

Mr. Schmidt said that America is also missing the spirituality that it once had. “I think for us to achieve the greatness that we once had, we need to return back to our spiritual roots.”

“When the guys jump out of the screen, that’s some good visual effects there,” Mr. Schmidt said.