QUEBEC CITY, Canada—When actor and dancer Peter Kelly Gaudreault, well-known for his role in the television series “North of 60,” received a ticket to Shen Yun Performing Arts for his birthday from a friend, he had no idea what awaited him.
But after seeing the company’s first performance at the Québec Grand Theatre on April 23, Mr. Gaudreault was thoroughly impressed.
“I love the show. I loved the colors—they just warmed my spirit, and I loved the ensemble work and the dancing. I loved the stories. Culture is a lifeline. It is the soul of humanity,” he said.
“I don’t understand why we don’t celebrate culture. I think it’s important because if we don’t keep that alive, we’re moving away from the direction we should go,” he said.
Mr. Gaudreault said that if everyone around the world can unite as one, then no challenge can stop them.
“I believe that if every person on [the opposite] sides of the world line up and we hug each other and say ‘I love you,' by the time we get through everybody, we’d realize our place in this world—we’re all a part of something [bigger] and we should celebrate our individuality,” he said.
Mr. Gaudreault is an author and longtime actor. In 199, he received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries for the “North of 60” spinoff film “In the Blue Ground.” In 2009 he published the children’s book “With a Hug and a Listen,” based on his son’s first day at school.
“I loved it. The classical training, the [flips and tumbling]—I never would have been able to do that, but a lot of it brought back memories,” he said.
“I loved the [movements of] the women’s arms. I loved the contrast between the masculine male dancers and the female dancers. I just thought it was absolutely lovely. It was dessert for my soul.”
According to the company’s website, the classical Chinese dance seen in China today is heavily mixed with military and modern dance styles. Only Shen Yun performs it in its purest form—the way it was originally passed down through the generations.
“I really, really loved the two-stringed instrument, the erhu. I loved it. I was absolutely blown away by the amount of octaves the instrument was capable of. I loved it from beginning to end.”
Mr. Gaudreault would like to tell the artists of Shen Yun to “keep spreading your passion and joy, and keep celebrating the message.”
“Make sure you take [Shen Yun] to as many people as there are because you touch one person, that’s one more person who’s enlightened.”
