TORONTO—Among the audience attending the Shen Yun Performing Arts show on Sunday afternoon at the Sony Centre was dentist Emeric Bacso.
With 1,200 patients and 38 years of experience, Dr. Bacso knows a thing or two about dedication. When he saw Shen Yun’s dancers on the stage, he couldn’t help but notice this quality in the dancers.
“I’m very impressed with it,” said Dr. Bacso, who owns a practice in Mississauga.
Established in 2006 by a group of overseas artists looking to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, Shen Yun has soared to become the premier classical Chinese dance and music company, performing on the world’s greatest stages.
Among the many aspects that distinguish Shen Yun are the dancers’ rigorous discipline, wholehearted dedication to their art, and their emphasis on moral character. These qualities are also integral to traditional Chinese culture, which is believed to be divinely inspired.
This commitment allows the dancers to present the genuine culture on stage, something that can no longer be seen on the stages of today’s China. In the more than six decades since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power, the traditional culture, which emphasized spirituality, has been systematically repressed.
Dr. Bacso said he had an impression that Chinese culture was “very serious” before coming to Shen Yun. Here, he was pleasantly surprised to find humour along with a very rich heritage.
“It’s much more playful than I thought. It’s just nice to see,” he said.
Shen Yun’s dancers present works of classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.
“It’s very colourful, very acrobatic, I really quite enjoy it,” said Dr. Bacso who was interviewed at intermission.
Shen Yun also presents a variety of folk and ethnic dances inspired by China’s many regions and ethnic groups. The company highlights several in each year’s performance.
Dr. Bacso noticed the broad variety of costumes showcasing the regional differences. “It’s enlightening,” he said.
He was also captivated by the company’s state-of-the-art animated backdrops, which interact with the dancers in a creative and often surprising manner.
“I thought it very cleverly done,” he said, referring to Ne Zha Churns the Sea, a dance based on a classic Chinese tale where a young boy with supernormal powers defeats an evil dragon that was terrorizing a seaside village. The action takes place both onstage and onscreen, with the two interacting seamlessly.
Dr. Bacso was impressed by the action in the piece and how well the backdrop captured it, such as “when you have the dancer going off in the clouds and into the sea, and the dragon being slain in the distance.”
He would readily recommend the performance to his friends, he said. “It’s worthwhile,” said Dr. Bacso.
Reporting by Allen Zhou and Madalina Hubert
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. 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.
