Dr. Muhs, the CEO and chairman of a multi-million dollar TSX-traded biotech company, was among those praising the New York-based dance company.
He took particular note of Shen Yun’s efforts to revive the essence of China’s performing arts, traditions that have eroded drastically under the authoritarian regime currently controlling China.
”It’s very nice. It’s quite foreign to us, because it’s a different culture. It shows a desire to actually preserve the culture. We live in a world that is very cynical. It doesn’t look at culture in a very positive way. And I like it when people actually preserve culture.
”We carry history with us, and if we don’t learn from history, there is no future,” he noted.
Dr. Muh, who holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, said he enjoyed the “total vision” of the performance.
“It’s the combination of the pictures, the background, the costumes, and the sound. It all fits very well together.”
Mr. McMahon, a general manager with a Canada-wide auto glass distribution company, also attended the Wednesday performance said, “It’s fantastic.
“The performances, the choreography, and the music are all fantastic.”
“I think the costumes were spectacular, and the colors and the choreography were also very good.
“I particularly liked the performances of the singer and the [erhu player]—very good, I’ve never seen that instrument before. That was very interesting, very good.”
The erhu is China’s two-stringed instrument and has a surprising range. It is often described as “haunting.”
Mr. McMahon said it touched his heart.
He also said he appreciated the story being told through the performances.
“The story they’re telling is very interesting. They’re starting way back, and coming up to the present. Each performance is a little story.”
Mr. Cerney, a high-ranking manager for a global construction company, attended with his girlfriend Ms. Timmins. The couple was also quite moved.
“It was very, very good,” said Mr. Cerney.
“It was excellent, it was really good,” echoed Ms. Timmins, a nurse.
She added that her daughter had been encouraging her to see the show since last year.
“It was excellent. Everybody thought it was really good,” she said. The couple was accompanied by Ms. Timmins’s two adult daughters and a grand daughter, a three-year-old who was enraptured with the performances.
“I can’t even really pick one thing out, they were all really good. I think the originally and the song lyrics, when they came up, were excellent.”
Shen Yun features three vocal soloists in its 2009 World Tour. While the songs are sung in Chinese, the lyrics are translated and displayed on an animated backdrop behind the performers.
Shen Yun will stage two more shows in Edmonton before finishing the Canadian leg of its 2009 World Tour in Regina.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org