MISSISSAUGA, Canada—“Excellent, colourful, informative, and a pleasure to be at,” was how Peter De Courcy described the Shen Yun Performing Arts show he saw at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre on Sunday afternoon.
“The scenery, the music, is excellent,” added Mr. DeCourcy, who owns De Courcy Steel in Brampton, Ontario.
“I thought the opening was excellent, with the dry ice and the coulour, the ribbons,” he said, referring to Grand Descent of the Deities, which depicts deities descending to earth where they reincarnate as human beings to guide China’s 5,000 years of civilization.
He also enjoyed Shen Yun’s dancers, who perform both classical Chinese dance and ethnic and folk dances that represent the Middle Kingdom’s diverse regions and peoples.
“I’ve been to a lot of different dance, my daughter was in dance for 19 years, so I just found that the [dancers] were floating.”
As well as performing the difficult leaps, spins, and tumbles that are part of classical Chinese dance, the dancers also take tiny heel-to-toe steps that give the impression that they are gliding.
Two pieces that stood out for him were The Steadfast Lotus and Mongolian Chopsticks, a lively Mongolian traditional dance in which the dancers use chopsticks to create a crisp, staccato beat.
Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by a group of leading classical Chinese artists who wished to revive the true traditional culture of China that has been all but lost following decades of communist rule.
It is a culture nourished by principles such as compassion and justice, propriety and wisdom, respect for the divine, as explained on the Shen Yun website.
“The culture is excellent ... just finding out the history of where it all came from,” said Mr. De Courcy.
Reporting by Donna He and Joan Delaney
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun’s World Company will perform in Toronto from 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.
