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TORONTO—Robert Grant, a managing partner with Asquith Israel Merchant Bank, attended the opening Shen Yun Performing Arts show at Toronto’s Sony Centre on Thursday night.
He has seen Shen Yun three times and is highly impressed by the fact that each year, the New York-based performing arts company presents an all-new line-up.
“I have to say that the quality is uniform on all three performances and, of course, each one was totally new, which is a lot of work to do. I have to applaud [Shen Yun] for creating a new show each time,” he said.
He particularly enjoyed a dance piece titled Joyful Little Monks.
“There is much that is beautiful and much that is cultural, but for those of us that are guys, the jubilant monks, I have to say, are having a lot of fun and it looks like a guy thing.”
New York-based Shen Yun, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company, is bringing about a renaissance of traditional Chinese culture through the performing arts, as much of China’s traditional art forms have been destroyed under the communist regime’s various campaigns, including the Cultural Revolution in particular.
Noting the importance of respecting traditions, Mr. Grant added that Shen Yun also “allows everybody to see the importance of having an exchange of ideas and an exchange of visuals and culture instead of having someone on the top telling you what to do.”
Each of Shen Yun’s three touring companies has its own live orchestra, which combines a mix of classical Chinese and Western instruments, producing a fresh, new sound.
“The music was lovely, it was well-done as always. People work very hard and they get results,” said Mr. Grant.
Shen Yun also features accomplished vocal soloists, and Mr. Grant was especially struck by tenor Guimin Guan’s rendition of “The Return.”
“The words of the tenor … really brought it out for me,” he said.
“The fact that here is a person that is actually putting into words and singing from his heart, not from his lungs—it was more the impression that he made as opposed to the words that he sang that showed the commitment.”
He added that it was a nice touch to have two emcees introduce the background of each piece.
“What made this more enjoyable is that [Shen Yun] actually has the two masters of ceremony on the stage explaining what’s happening.”“Everything is just uniformly wonderful,” he said.
Reporting by NTD Television and Joan Delaney
Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company is in Toronto for four more performances at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
