TORONTO—Shen Yun Performing Arts wraps up its 2026 season with its concluding performances in Canada at Toronto’s Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts. This year marked the company’s 20th anniversary, and they performed in 170 cities across five continents.

Rekha Narasimhan, a former professional Indian classical dancer and singer, has wanted to see Shen Yun for 5 years. After she missed the local performance in her hometown, Mrs. Narasimhan drove over 8 hours into Canada to see Shen Yun on June 27.

“I’m from New Jersey, and I’ve been meaning to see this, but I never got an opportunity … I had to come to Canada to see it,” she said.

She told her kids, “I’m not going to let it go … I really have to see it.” On the trip, she also visited Niagara Falls, but she didn’t know that she would also come to see Shen Yun as another “world wonder.”

“There’s a very good message that Shen Yun is giving to people, reminding them that there is something more [or] bigger than just modern and materialistic life,” Mrs. Narasimhan said. “It was very thought-provoking.”

“It’s like a world peace movement,” she added. “I think everybody should see it because it will bring them back into touch with who they are and what they’re originally composed of, which is just peace and love.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Through the universal language of music and dance, the company presents story-based dances depicting heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales spanning 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.

Mrs. Narasimhan felt that Shen Yun’s name, which translates to “the beauty of divine being dancing,” was communicated throughout their performance. “It really relates because you feel it,” she said.

“There are no words in the show, but [they] really brought the divinity, the meditation, the peace, [and] the calm,” she added. “For two hours, we felt very calm, and I think we came close to what we are—to love and peace.”

Regarding the 20-dance dramas that convey moral lessons like reaping what you sow, Mrs. Narasimhan said, “I think it’s to bring a whole community of people to the higher purpose: to help each other, to share, and to care.”

Recognizing some of the similarities and differences between Bharatanatyam (classical Indian dance) and classical Chinese dance, Mrs. Narasimhan said, “A lot of the lines, ... and the grace is what we also show in Bharatanatyam.”

“I think it was very beautiful … the clothes [and] the flow was so good,” she said. “It was so graceful.”

She said she could feel “the delicacy behind every little thing that [they] do … or think.”

Like Bharatanatyam, classical Chinese dance involves a dance-acting element, in which facial expressions coordinated with physical movements amplify expression. With its flips and gentle elegance, classical Chinese dance is one of the most athletic and expressive art forms.

In addition to talented dancers, Shen Yun also features a one-of-a-kind orchestra that blends traditional Chinese instruments with a classical Western orchestra. Ancient Chinese instruments such as the two-string erhu, which has been called the “Chinese violin,” and the pipa, or “Chinese lute,” lead the melody amidst the traditional instruments found in a Western symphony.

Mrs. Narasimhan said the erhu soloist “really touched everybody’s hearts.”

“The emotion that came out of this instrument [and its] different variations … was amazing to see. Just two little strings doing so much.”

While the “colors” and the “glamour” of Shen Yun are incredibly beautiful, Mrs. Narasimhan said, “more important is what it ultimately shows you without any words—that you can touch people and you can remind them to be kind.”

“I think a lot of us are very confused; we are lost in the middle of so [many] distractions. I think we need to get focused back into our own peace, [and] be grateful … to the divine,” she added.

“It’s a very great message they’re carrying to the world … somewhere they will reach somebody who’s lost and bring them back,” she said. “I’m very grateful that I got the opportunity to see it.”