KITCHENER-WATERLOO, Canada—Two dancers that took in Shen Yun Performing Arts’ sold-out show at Centre in the Square theatre were full of praise for the talent on stage after seeing the first half of the show.
Zenia Zenchuk has grown up dancing her entire life, starting with Ukrainian folk dancing, later moving into ballroom and Latin dancing. She also teaches swing dancing.
As a dancer, she said she could tell the work that went into the performance she was watching that night.
“Very amazing - the coordination, the timing, the precision, the athletics, everything. It’s just that - many many hours of practice. We can appreciate that,” she said during intermission.
Her partner, Allen Simioni agreed.
“Yeah it’s very exciting. It takes a lot of coordination, I can see. A lot of coordination to perform this kind of dancing,” he said.
“Very colorful, very in unison, very beautiful - beautiful with the arms, very graceful. Absolutely amazing, really enjoying it,” he added.
Ms. Zenchuk said she really liked the use of scarves by the female dancers in the opening piece Descending to the World, which presents a heavenly host gathering to hear the Lord Buddha, who calls on them to descend with him to Earth to make a magnificent history for humankind.
“That was beautiful, beautiful. Beautiful music as well the choreography. Very well done,” she said.
Mr. Simioni enjoyed the piece When Shaolin Monks Protected the Emperor, a dance based on a little legend of why the monks of the famed Shaolin Temple eat meat.
“I just enjoyed the movements that they had there. [It] was very athletic and at the same time very graceful. It was exciting. I liked it,” he said.
Ms. Zenchuk thought classical Chinese dance was very expressive and Shen Yun’s performers showed their joy in their art.
“It’s comical too. There’s comical points to it and so they are very expressive with their body, their facial features, everything. Very well done. Many, many years of practice,” she said.
In a word, she said Shen Yun was “magnificent.”
“I recommend it to anybody to come and see the show,” added Mr. Simioni.
With reporting by NTD Television and Matthew Little
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. With its two shows in Kitchener-Waterloo now finished, Shen Yun’s New York Company will go on to Hamilton (Jan. 12-13) for three shows and finish its tour of eastern Canada in Toronto (Jan. 17-20) with five shows at Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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