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Judy Desjardins greatly enjoyed the Shen Yun Performing Arts' opening show at Place des Arts on Friday night. (The Epoch Times)
MONTREAL—As a veteran fashion designer who dreamed about being a ballerina or fashion designer as a little girl, Judy Desjardins greatly enjoyed the Shen Yun Performing Arts' opening show at Place des Arts on Friday night.
“The costumes were very colourful, very light,” she said.
Shen Yun, a premier classical Chinese dance and music company based in New York, features all-original costume designs that preserve the beauty of ancient Chinese culture and are inspired by China's various dynasties and different ethnic groups.
Ms. Desjardin particularly enjoyed the piece titled Handkerchiefs in which dancers twirled and tossed their delicate green silk handkerchiefs with ease, adorned in pink costumes that complemented the pink blossoms in the scenic lake and mountain backdrop.
“All those Chinese dancers who were so beautiful and graceful. It was really beautiful to watch,” said Ms. Desjardins.
Ms. Desjardins is the designer behind the fashion label BODYBAG by jude, along with a second label called J.U.D.E., which stands for “justified unique design experience.”
She described her clothing lines as “sophisticated street wear.” They are designed for the “young women—classic with an edge,” she said. The labels have been selling for more than 10 years and are distributed across Canada and are also available in the United States.
In a Miao Village was another dance that impressed Ms. Desjardins. The dance showcases the Miao people, one of China’s oldest ethnic groups, and their elaborate headdresses and ornate silver jewelery.
“This is something really interesting,” she said. “[You] could hear the jewelery as well, so it’s not only visuals, there are many senses involved in the dance.”
As a child and teenager, Ms. Desjardin took ballet lessons and very much liked dancing. When she went to shows, she used to focus on the techniques and the hand and foot movements of the dancers.
“This was like a little girl’s dream to be a ballerina or a fashion designer,” she said, adding that fashion, music, and dance are related.
Ms. Desjardin noted how all three came together at the Shen Yun show and the way in which the costumes and colours worked together with the movements to enhance each dance.
“Yes, with all the big skirts, and [the sleeves that] added length to the arms to amplify the movements, this is really nice and beautiful. And the way they overlaid and mixed the colours, and with each movement the colours change.”
Another trademark of Shen Yun is its success in combining classical Chinese and Western musical instruments in original arrangements in a masterful fusion.
Ms. Desjardin said she found the music fun as well as interesting, and noted that the show brought her greater knowledge about Chinese culture while it also highlighted the suppression of time-honoured Chinese traditions by the current regime.
The performances “really bring up all the old traditions,” she said, as she realized so much had been repressed in recent times.
Her comment speaks to the mission of Shen Yun Performing Arts—to revive the true cultural and artistic heritage of ancient China that flourished before the communist party came to power.
“It’s good to know, to be informed,” she said. “This is fun, it’s entertaining, it’s a nice evening and then you learn something, and it was pretty beautiful.”
With reporting by Matthew Little.
After the four Montreal presentations from Jan. 15 to 17, Shen Yun will play in Hamilton and Toronto. At the end of January, it will head south to several U.S. cities before returning to Canada to perform in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, and Winnipeg.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
