“Fantastic, outstanding. Very good cultural description, and moving you in time.”

“It was absolutely the best thing ever. I did read the reviews and I expected something very, very spectacular, and this is what exactly happened.”

“The spiritual, traditional, and cultural—I’m an anthropologist, I probably understand a little bit better—it was right there, absolutely.”

“I would say tradition is about circularity, and you could sense the circle—that’s what tradition means, traditional culture. We live here [in the West] in a very linear culture ... with an absence of aesthetics, absence of colour, and finesse—the delicate side of the human. It’s a very good reminder.”

“I would say it’s teaching; it’s reflective, opening the soul and what is forgotten. I think it’s very important the culture we live in, in North America. It’s very absent of tradition. I think it’s very important for Toronto to have more like Shen Yun, and more often.

“I believe it is teaching ... [reminding us] ‘don’t forget where you came from.’”

“[I feel] very much touched and integrated—integrated with the show, with the tempo, with the music, with the finesse and delicacy.”