MISSISSAUGA, Canada—“It was quite enchanting and entertaining,” said Eleanor Ty, author and chair of the Department of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, after watching the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Living Arts Centre theatre on Friday night.
“I really enjoyed the show. I came with my daughter and there was a lot of culture and different ethnicities in China that we saw. Their costumes and the music were really wonderful … a lot of colours,” said Prof. Ty.
She took note of the way Shen Yun’s innovative digital backdrops not only provided background scenery of China, but also complemented the costumes.
“The blend of the costumes with the backdrop, it was always very nicely coordinated . . . [The backdrops] gave a sense of the landscape of China, so I thought it was very entertaining and a worthwhile show to see.”
Prof. Ty said she was also impressed with how the state-of-the-art projections were animated and interacted with the dancers as they danced.
Referring to one of the story-based dances, Splitting the Mountain, she noted that “It looked like the people were actually going into the mountains.”
Among many other aspects of the show, Prof. Ty said she enjoyed Shen Yun’s music.
“The music was very good because it was partly string music but also combined with Chinese instruments. I think that made it a very different kind of experience from shows that we would see normally in Canada and United States,” she said.
Commenting on the two-stringed traditional Chinese instrument, the erhu, she said its sound was “quite high but also quite melodic and mellow.”
The mission of Shen Yun is to reclaim the divinely inspired cultural heritage of China’s long history of 5,000 years. Prof. Ty found the spirituality incorporated throughout the show very interesting.
“I think the teachings are very good, about restraint, fighting only when it’s necessary and also looking forward to something that’s heavenly.”
She saw many similarities between eastern and western spirituality.
“I was listening to some of the teachings from the songs as well as the narratives,” she said.
“I think that some of the teachings are very much in keeping with western kinds of traditions and the fact that we have lost something as we come to earth and there’s something spiritual that’s lost when there is lots of materialism and greed and fighting. . . . There’s something that’s divine that could be achieved in a different kind of existence.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts will play two more sold-out shows this Saturday at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga.
For more information, visit www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
“I really enjoyed the show. I came with my daughter and there was a lot of culture and different ethnicities in China that we saw. Their costumes and the music were really wonderful … a lot of colours,” said Prof. Ty.
She took note of the way Shen Yun’s innovative digital backdrops not only provided background scenery of China, but also complemented the costumes.
“The blend of the costumes with the backdrop, it was always very nicely coordinated . . . [The backdrops] gave a sense of the landscape of China, so I thought it was very entertaining and a worthwhile show to see.”
Prof. Ty said she was also impressed with how the state-of-the-art projections were animated and interacted with the dancers as they danced.
Referring to one of the story-based dances, Splitting the Mountain, she noted that “It looked like the people were actually going into the mountains.”
Among many other aspects of the show, Prof. Ty said she enjoyed Shen Yun’s music.
“The music was very good because it was partly string music but also combined with Chinese instruments. I think that made it a very different kind of experience from shows that we would see normally in Canada and United States,” she said.
Commenting on the two-stringed traditional Chinese instrument, the erhu, she said its sound was “quite high but also quite melodic and mellow.”
The mission of Shen Yun is to reclaim the divinely inspired cultural heritage of China’s long history of 5,000 years. Prof. Ty found the spirituality incorporated throughout the show very interesting.
“I think the teachings are very good, about restraint, fighting only when it’s necessary and also looking forward to something that’s heavenly.”
She saw many similarities between eastern and western spirituality.
“I was listening to some of the teachings from the songs as well as the narratives,” she said.
“I think that some of the teachings are very much in keeping with western kinds of traditions and the fact that we have lost something as we come to earth and there’s something spiritual that’s lost when there is lots of materialism and greed and fighting. . . . There’s something that’s divine that could be achieved in a different kind of existence.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts will play two more sold-out shows this Saturday at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga.
For more information, visit www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
