VANCOUVER—Shen Yun Performing Arts played the first of four performances at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver on Thursday night, delighting showgoers with its portrayal of China’s 5,000-year-old culture.

Among the audience were Carol and Larry Hagan, who enjoyed the production very much.

Ms. Hagan, a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, described the performance as “fun, interesting, colourful.”

“I’m very impressed,” she said.

“They’re very technical, the dancers. I really love all the facial expressions as well as the movements and things in there. It really tells a story.”

New York-based Shen Yun features classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dances, and live orchestral music. 

According to the Shen Yun website, “known for its incredible flips and spins and its gentle elegance, [classical Chinese dance] is one of the most rigorous and expressive art forms in the world.”

Mr. Hagan, a lawyer by profession, also praised the skills of the dancers and noted the hundreds of colourful handmade costumes worn by the performers in all the various pieces.

“I like the colour of the outfits—fantastic,” Mr. Hagan said. 

He added that he was surprised to see that the Shen Yun performance was well attended by both Chinese and non-Chinese audiences alike.

“We thought wow, this is going to be 104 percent Chinese, but it’s not, there’s a lot of people that are Caucasians enjoying the show,” he said. 

According to the Shen Yun website, the company was formed by a group of leading classical Chinese artists with the aim to revive China’s divinely inspired culture. 

Reporting by Ryan Moffatt

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.