Shen Yun ‘Majestic,’ Says Magazine Editor

MISSISSAUGA, Canada—There was just one word to describe Shen Yun Performing Arts, said magazine editor Terry Lankstead after seeing the performance on Thursday at the Living Arts Centre.

“Majestic,” said Mr. Lankstead, editor of GoodLife, a fine living bimonthly magazine, and View, a bimonthly lifestyle magazine for those in Mississauga’s bustling city centre.

“That would be the word, majestic, that one word encompasses all,” he said. “It was sheer entertainment.”

Mr. Lankstead added, “You find it hard to focus in on one thing. I enjoyed watching just one person for a while, and then something else grabs your attention, there is so much to see, so much to look at. And also I think it was a good inspiration for the kids as well.”

He said he also enjoyed Shen Yun’s innovative digital projections, which provide a vividly animated scene for each dance, extending the stage to sometimes heavenly realms, and at times interacting with the dancers themselves.

“I thought it was fantastic. I thought it was majestic, when they come out, they come right out of the screen, and right onto the stage. I was actually a bit shocked when that happened,” he said.

“I just really enjoyed how they came out, from all different places, and you are just like ‘wow, this is really entertaining.’”

Shen Yun’s backdrops are designed to complement and synchronize all aspects of the performance, including the characters, costume colouring, and story, even notes played by the orchestra, said Shen Yun’s website.

“I really enjoyed how the colours coordinated with the backdrops, the intense colour of it all,” said Mr. Lankstead.

Besides “all the beautiful colours,” Mr. Lankstead said he also enjoyed Shen Yun’s principal dancers, saying they really grabbed his attention. He singled out dancer Tim Wu for special praise.

“I was very drawn into him, he was very expressive, muscular. … He really engages the audience,” he said.

I thought it was a really fantastic experience.

—Terry Lankstead

Mr. Lankstead said he enjoyed the flow of Shen Yun’s entire performance and the themes that ran through it as well as the company’s unique orchestra, which combines classical Eastern and Western instruments.

“You don’t hear a huge symphony like that very often, so it’s a real treat for Mississauga to listen to world-class orchestra mixing the Eastern and Western sound as well. My kids enjoyed hearing all the different sounds of the instruments, especially the Eastern instruments that we rarely hear.”

“I don’t see a lot of dancing but you know it was impressive. I enjoyed, and so did the audience, the ones where they were running around doing all those flips around in a circle,” he said.

Shen Yun, which is based in New York, stages ethnic dances from China’s diverse regions and folk dances of the majority Han ethnicity, but mainly presents classical Chinese dance, a discipline passed down in imperial courts throughout China’s history.

Those flips are the most distinct techniques of classical Chinese dance, and include flipping the body with the waist as the axis as well as aerial and tumbling movements.

Mr. Lankstead commented on the athleticism involved in performing those feats.

“It is not the kind of dance you would normally be exposed to in an old musical that you would see,” he said laughing.

“You look at the dancers and you just appreciate their abilities, just to do that.”

“I thought it was a really fantastic experience.”

With reporting by NTD Television and Matthew Little

The Shen Yun International Company will stage four more shows at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre, finishing on Sunday.

For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.