Nicole and Jim Cunneely found a lot to like. Mrs. Cunneely, a vice president of sales for beauty and personal care business, said, “I think that the entire performance is just very beautiful, very interesting, very telling, and I really love the kind of the video background. ...  So it’s our first time,  it’s a really cool experience.”

Mrs.Cunneely especially liked the dance story of the fairy and the town boy. “I just like all of the dancing, the whole story. ... And, obviously, the backgrounds and everything that they did with the fairies, and it was very cool,” she said.

Mrs. Cunneely was interested in Chinese culture as it impacts her business.

“I do sales for beauty and personal care.  A lot of my colleagues in my factories are actually based in China, so I definitely wanted to learn more about the overall culture,” she said.

“I think it’s very interesting, Mr. Cunneely, a self-employed contractor, said. “I like how some of it is light-hearted, but other parts of it are very in-depth regarding Chinese culture.”

Before each set of dances, bilingual hosts explain and describe the story, which Mr. Cunneely appreciated. He said he was not aware of traditional Chinese culture before communism.

“It was informative for me because I was unaware of that part of Chinese culture. I thought it had many different layers of storytelling,” he said.

To the performers, Mr. Cunneely said, “Thank you for sharing your culture and best of luck in the future.”

Louis Ferreira, a coordinator, said he liked “the art, the style, the flexibility. This is my second time coming to see it.”

Mr. Ferreira said he came again because “I love the art. The colors, it’s very vivid.”

He noted the educational value for the younger generation. He said how important it was to bring “back the arts to the kids. I think this would be great for them.”

“I think it’s suppressed China, [but it’s important] how they’re able to express themselves,” he said.

Mr. Ferreira said Shen Yun is “beautiful. A beautiful show.”