TORONTO—Oshawa Express newspaper publisher Sandy McDowell often reads about the world’s problems—it’s an occupational hazard of sorts. But she found an escape, and perhaps some solutions, when she arrived at Shen Yun Performing Arts on Jan. 23.
Mrs. McDowell attended the classical Chinese dance and music performance with her husband, Greg, and said the traditional values expressed in the story-based dances were timely and promoted peace in a troubled world.
“It speaks to a lot of what we’re going through today with freedom of speech, rights, and [belief]—this cultural event is excellent for people of all cultures to see,” she said after the Friday evening performance at the Sony Centre.
“[Values] of peace, tranquility, compassion, trying to get along with each other, ... it’s a nice respite from what we deal with everyday.”
New York-based Shen Yun was formed in 2006 by overseas Chinese artists who held a shared mission to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture. Through story-based classical Chinese dance and ethnic and folk dance, the company breathes new life into ancient myths and legends. It also deals with modern-day human rights abuses in China and the peaceful resistance of the Chinese people.
Being a man of letters, Mr. McDowell, former publisher and current writer for various leading publications, admired the storytelling aspect of Shen Yun.
“All the dancing, the different dances—they each told a story,” he said. “So you learn about the culture that way, through their dances and through their stories that they tell.”
“The dancing itself, the discipline that goes along with that, it’s pretty amazing,” said Mrs. McDowell.
A dance called “Capturing Arrows With Boats of Straw” was memorable for Mr. McDowell. This piece, adapted from the classic novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” tells the story of an epic battle in the year 208 between the Wei army and allied forces Shu and Wu. Though the allies are greatly outnumbered, they outsmart the enemy by sending straw men on boats toward enemy lines as bait, steal the Wei army’s arrows, and sail home victorious.
“It was an interesting story, the military tactic that they used,” said Mr. McDowell, adding he enjoyed the entire performance.
“The show was very interesting, very colourful and very lively. The dancing was phenomenal.”
