TORONTO—Mr. Lebart, an instrumental music teacher in the Catholic school system, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts Saturday afternoon at the Canon Theatre.
It was his second time seeing the show, and while some of the programs were familiar, he was particularly impressed by Shen Yun’s innovative animated digital backdrop.
“The visual—the visual is amazing. Whoever came up with that computer graphic in the background was a genius. That’s an amazing effect. Even though you know what it is, it still gives you the sense of something descending from the heavens. It makes an incredible impression that way,” he said.
Watching the heavenly scenes gave Mr. Lebart a feeling of hope.
“I think it’s a sense. It’s an anticipation we all have—that regardless of what religion … we all have that feeling that we are hoping something is going to come down and save us, clean up this big mess for us,” said Lebart.
As a Westerner, he said he found it easy to relate to traditional Chinese culture and values.
“I’m certainly Western by appearance, but probably more Chinese in my head,” he said, laughing.
As a music teacher, Mr. Lebart was especially interested in Shen Yun’s music. In addition to performances of Chinese classical dance, Shen Yun also features a full orchestra which fuses Western and Chinese instruments and vocal performances by internationally acclaimed soloists.
“The music was beautiful; absolutely gorgeous songs. Even through I don’t understand the language, even without the subtitles coming up, you can feel the emotion of the music, you can feel the strength of that, so it still comes across,” he said adding that the singers’ voices were so powerful that they did not need microphones.
When asked whether he would come to see the show a third time, he said, “Absolutely. I will be back again, no question.”
Shen Yun will finish its Toronto run on Sunday but is due to return with its all-new 2010 program sometime in January. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
