“I thought it was wonderful,” said Mr. Grant. “It was very provocative in the sense that it showed things that normally we wouldn’t see on TV.”

With Mr. Grant was his girlfriend, Brittany Kent, an athletic trainer.

“I grew up dancing, so it was really cool to see the different techniques and the style and the way that they communicated the story through the colors [and] the costumes,” said Ms. Kent. “They communicated their history and their culture in a way that was beautiful. It was really exciting to see so many different things that I’ve never known. To learn about that from the stage was really encouraging. More emotional than I was expecting it to be, but still good. I enjoyed it. It was beautiful.”

Mr. Grant said that that piece was “probably my favorite performance of the night,” and appreciated that Shen Yun was spreading the truth about what was happening in China.

“No matter how emotional or how bad it was, they didn’t shy away from the truth,” said Mr. Grant.

“I think the truth is there whether we like it or not. The truth doesn’t care about someone being offended by it or hurt by it. The truth exists as fact, and we have to learn how to accept it. Maybe sometimes it will anger us and that is maybe a call to action. So, watching the show, as beautiful as it was, evoked a lot of emotions as well,” he said.

Shen Yun’s program also includes songs performed in the traditional bel canto style. One of the songs’ lyrics delivered the message that goodness will prevail, which Mr. Grant believed to resonate with everyone, “because in such high, harrowing, dark, and disastrous times, we’re always looking for hope, wherever that may come, whether it come from your local government, your religious beliefs, or your family or friends. Everyone needs hope wherever they can find it.”

“I think it was the significance of what they [Shen Yun] teaching is compassion and hope for a brighter tomorrow, [and] compassion for your fellow man no matter how different they are from you,“ he said. ”If you don’t believe what they believe, you can still have compassion for your fellow man no matter what they look like, who they are. [Have] compassion and hope. With hope, [we] can rise above all of this.”

“Very much positive energy, very much strong energy in the sense of they were very passionate about what they were doing … Watching them actually show emotion as they dance, it was more than just dancing—it was a performance of emotions and of storytelling, of, again, compassion and hope. They conveyed that very well, not only with their dancing obviously, but with their faces as well.”