MISSISSAUGA, Canada—Shen Yun Performing Arts is “absolutely outstanding,” according to Canadian member of Parliament Joe Daniel.
Mr. Daniel is a man of the world. Born in a British colony in Tanzania to Indian parents from Kerala state, he then worked in England where he flew through the ranks of Westland Helicopters to become principal engineer.
He eventually followed his parents to Canada, where they had emigrated some years earlier. Now he serves as MP for the Toronto riding of Don Valley East.
After attending the classical Chinese dance and music performance on Sunday afternoon at the Living Arts Centre, he complimented the international talent—the group of classical Chinese dancers recruited from around the world that makes up Shen Yun.
“The dancers and the dances were exquisite. The timing was perfect, everybody was beautifully synchronized,” he said.
Mr. Daniel also noted the expressiveness of the faces of the dancers, due to the acting component of classical Chinese dance, which involves coordinating facial expression with physical movement, resulting in an amplified form of expression.
Shen Yun was founded on a mission to revive China’s divinely inspired culture, a heritage spanning 5,000 years that has been largely lost in China today after 65 years of communist rule.
The culture of classical China is rooted in the values of the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, with principles such as propriety and justice, reverence for the divine, filial piety and compassion serving as the foundation of society.
These values are central to many of Shen Yun’s story-based dances. Mr. Daniel said this was a valuable contribution.
“I am a spiritual person, we are a spiritual people, and therefore the connections between our values, our beliefs, are for me very strong.
“So the beliefs that are identified there between heaven and earth and people, and dealing with dignity with everybody, is a theme that should be promoted everywhere. That was very good to see that,” he said.
“So the old lady in one of the dances being beautifully and compassionately cared for, those sorts of things are very good.”
“I enjoyed all of them,” he said of the dances.
Speaking during intermission, he also complimented the first vocal soloist of the performance, Yu Ming.
“The soprano was outstanding she sang beautifully with the pianist, That was very good, but the background music is always good and they were using a lot of Chinese instruments and that is good to be able to educate us on that.”
Those instruments are the pipa, erhu and suona, traditional Chinese instruments that make Shen Yun’s symphony orchestra unique in the world for being included as permanent members leading the melodies.
Reporting by NTD Television
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. With its run in Mississauga now complete, Shen Yun International Company will perform from January 21 - 25 at Sony Centre in Toronto. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
