OTTAWA—Shen Yun Performing Arts left Jules Charette deeply impressed after he took in the classical Chinese dance company’s final Ottawa performance Friday night at the National Arts Centre.
“It was great, the colours, costumes. I think what they put together was a miracle of dance. I love dancing but that was special,” said Mr. Charette, a senior partner at an international law firm.
With him was dancer Ann Poirier, who said the choreography and the music were both wonderful.
“I very much appreciated the quality and the seriousness, the dance moves etc., and the nice chemistry between the music and the choreography, the dancers,” she said.
“The technique was very good, I noticed they had at some point 18 dancers on the dance floor for the ladies and they were synchronized, as well as the men, so that’s a challenge when you have a large group.”
Ms. Poirier also noted that “you could tell that the dancers enjoyed performing. They were dancing from the heart. You could see it in their expressions.”
“You could see it in their eyes,” echoed Mr. Charette.
Also at the show was actress Lindsay McRae, who noted that “since I was 6 years old I’ve been doing theatre.” She and her group are now seeking to start a company aimed at supporting youth and indigenous cultures to express their spirituality.
New York-based Shen Yun, founded in 2006, takes as its mission the revival of the genuine traditional Chinese culture, which has as its essence universal themes of morality and spirituality such as compassion, courage, justice, faith, and reverence for the divine.
“What is really perfect for me was that this was based on a spiritual need to uplift a culture … and that’s exactly what the arts are meant to do,” said Ms. McRae of Shen Yun.
“The whole thing was beautiful. It was just touching, and just the joy and innocence of it from the heart, and how it reached out to families and all ages. That’s really what touched me the most. And the music was beautiful, very beautiful.”
Shen Yun tours the globe with an all-new production every year with a lineup of dances and songs inspired by stories ranging from ancient myths and legends to events of significance from modern times, such as the persecution of Falun Dafa by the communist regime in China.
“It’s moving. It really deals with what we’re facing today. It talked about the future and that we seem to be heading in a strange direction and there are terrible things happening. And the message was just, let’s be conscious of this. And I really felt like it was bringing people together, making people aware,” Ms. McRae said.
She added that, amidst consumerism and other distractions in modern society, “the family unit is broken and people are suffering.”
Yet “when we see such beauty and elegance presented to us in such a proud way, for people standing up for their own cultures and saying this is who we are as a people and we’re proud of our culture and we’re proud of our history, and we remember who we are as human beings and there is a solution, and there is a divine force that guides us, that’s exactly what we need.”
“People need hope, people need beauty, people need culture, spiritual roots. We need culture to remember who we are,” said Ms. McRae.
“Exhilarating, sensational, colourful, touching, inspiring, and unique. Something about it was magical. It just was kind of captivating. There was a little bit of sparkles that touched the heart.”
Ms. McRae was compelled to see the show after reading a brochure advertising Shen Yun.
“I thought, wow, this is a spiritual theatre play and it incorporates so many meanings into one.”
Reporting by NTD Television, Crystal Yin, and Matthew Little
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. The Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company will next perform in Hamilton on Dec. 26-27. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
