MISSISSAUGA, Canada—After seeing the Shen Yun Performing Arts’ show on Sunday afternoon at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Eric Wood, an expert in teaching others how to teach math, was full of praise for the enriching cultural experience.
“It’s really spectacular. I’m just enjoying the whole thing. I’m just sitting there and letting it flow over me,” Mr. Wood said during the intermission.
Now retired, Mr. Wood was a professor at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, and a professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, specializing in math education. He also co-authored a series of textbooks and articles on teaching mathematics.
An educator himself, he noted Shen Yun’s effort to share some of China’s lesser-known history.
“These people have given us an opportunity to see some of China’s culture, some of the history … some of their myths and stories,” he said.
He also enjoyed Shen Yun’s state-of-the art animated backdrops which set the stage to different scenes, ranging from heavenly realms to imperial courts.
In the narrative dances, characters appear to enter into and emerge from the digital projection. Dancers interact with images in the backdrops with extraordinary precision.
Mr. Wood referred to this aspect in the piece Ne Zha Churns the Sea, which tells the story of a demi-god born as a meatball to a local lord and lady. That meatball quickly grows into a boy that saves an idyllic seaside village from an evil dragon.
“When the dragon came out of the sky, and then he jumps up from behind, it’s so well timed it almost looks like the real thing. So that was really very nice,” he said.
He was also impressed with the costume colours. The costumes are all originally designed and handmade and represent traditional attire, ranging from those of emperors, ministers, and generals to the everyday clothing of the common people.
“They are very nice. So colourful. I didn’t know they had colours like that.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Sandra Shields
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun’s World Company will perform once more in Mississauga and then in Toronto Jan. 23-26. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
