CALGARY, Alberta—Calgary’s arts community was abuzz with anticipation on Sunday afternoon as Shen Yun Performing Arts played the first of three shows at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
Ms. Mitchell, a regional manager of a major Canadian bank, described the show as “enlightening.”
“It’s been tough for everyone with the global economic cycle that we’ve been going through, and it’s really nice to come on a beautiful spring day and to be enlightened,” she said.
Shen Yun portrays traditional Chinese culture through music and classical Chinese dance, depicting myths, legends, and stories from ancient China through to today.
Ms. Mitchell was impressed by the performers’ ability to express profound Chinese legends through dance. The stories are also explained by bilingual hosts, allowing the audience to get an insight into the deeper meaning behind each program before it is presented.
“I just love the music, the passion behind it, and the story that’s told through the costumes and the dance. It’s very easy to follow along. It’s beautiful. … It was very easy to tell what was going on with the story through the expression of the dance and the music,” she said.
She also commented on the details of the costumes as “expressions in themselves,” and how they were used by the performers to portray deeper cultural meanings.
“You know the flowers, the blooming … Every time they moved … It just became something completely different on stage. It was absolutely beautiful. The Dance of the Yi was my favorite. It was absolutely beautiful what they could do with their skirts and how that changed the absolute appearance,” she said.
In Dance of the Yi female dancers wear flowing, multicolored skirts that resemble bright flowers while presenting the playfulness, femininity, and joyfulness of the women of the Yi. The Yi people are one of southern China’s largest ethnic groups and are known for their passion for music and dance.
“It brings hope. And I look into the spring and I think things are starting to get better and as far as the world economy, people are starting to see hope again. And that’s really very much what you see here with this dance and the inspiration of what [Shen Yun] Performing Arts does. It makes people feel peaceful and hopeful and look forward, not backwards.”
After Calgary, Shen Yun will perform in Edmonton on April 15 and April 16 and in Regina on April 19.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org