TORONTO—Financial advisor Melbo Belo has seen Shen Yun Performing Arts three times. This year, she again attended the opening performance of Shen Yun at Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, this time bringing two friends so they could also enjoy the performance by the world-renowned classical Chinese dance and music company.
“I wanted them to see and experience how beautiful the dancers are,” Ms. Belo said after the performance on April 21, 2016.
Besides the aesthetic beauty, the profound themes presented in Shen Yun rooted in China’s ancient culture, such as propriety and wisdom, respect for the heavens, and benevolence and justice, are a strong attraction that bring Ms. Belo back year after year.
“[The Divine themes] remind me of my own mortality; that we are just here on earth temporarily,” Ms. Belo said.
She also referred to the lyrics of songs performed by Shen Yun’s award-winning vocalists who use the bel canto style to sing Chinese lyrics, pointing out that she enjoyed the inner meanings in the songs.
“It reminds me that each one of us has a purpose on earth before the divine creator calls us back home. And we give account to how we live our life,” she said.
“The purpose of my life is to glorify the creator and live my life according to what his will in my life will be. So I have to be attuned to his will and make sure, just like what they mentioned [in Shen Yun], to live a life that is good and righteous.”
‘You almost cry’
Vojka Kalavic said he could really connect with the Shen Yun performance, feeling that his soul was touched by the alignment of “choreography, composition, the dancers’ movements, and music.”
“You connect actually with the show with all things that are going on there, and it’s very touching in some moments,” said Mr. Kalavic, a software engineer.
So touching in fact, that “you almost cry when you see some scenes,” he said.
“The … dancers are really presenting that in very nice way, like in such a way that you immediately see what’s going on there. …I can actually connect with that.”
Seconding her husband’s description of the performance, Mrs. Kalavic said she was really impressed by the performance.
“It’s amazing,” she said.
Reporting by Becky Zhou, Dongyu Teng, and Omid Ghoreishi
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun’s International Company is currently touring Eastern Canada. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
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.
