MONTREAL—Mario St-Pierre was delighted by the beauty of the backdrops after seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts at Place des Arts on Friday night.
“I was impressed by the beauty of the paintings, landscapes, colours, and the synchronization,” said Mr. St-Pierre, a lawyer whose practice focuses on serving public agencies.
“I really appreciated them!” he added. “Especially the colours, with lots of movements.”
New York-based Shen Yun was founded in 2006 with the mission of reviving the traditional culture of China, a heritage with a history of 5,000 years, which has been all but completely lost following decades of communist rule.
Shen Yun has three companies that tour the world with an all-new production of classical Chinese dance and music each year. A hallmark of Shen Yun is its state-of-the-art digital backdrops projected behind the dancers, which are often animated to enhance the dance, story, or song.
They transport audiences to another world, whether it is a blossoming countryside, deep green forest, imperial courtyard, mountain monastery, or celestial paradise.
“What is impressive for the public is the link between the stage and screen, where there are constant exchanges. It surprises us! What is presented in the backdrop helps the viewer,” Mr. St-Pierre said.
Classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world, is richly expressive in its reflection of the spiritual essence of traditional Chinese culture, with its values of benevolence, honour, propriety, wisdom, sincerity, and a reverence for the gods and the heavens.
“I felt there was a great deal of symbolism, spirituality, variety of minorities and differences between North and South,” Mr. St-Pierre noted.
Referring to Shen Yun’s unique orchestra that combines traditional instruments from the West with typical Chinese instruments, Mr. St-Pierre said that “the oriental instruments help to appreciate what is presented.”
“This is my first experience with this kind of show and I liked it!” he said.
Scientist Impressed
Laurent Bernier, a scientist and senior manager at a high-technology firm, was similarly impressed by the cultural presentation after seeing Shen Yun on Friday night.
“I really liked it, just amazed,” said Mr. Bernier. “I was really looking forward to seeing it for the cultural elements.”
“I like the choreography, I like the costumes, I like the music … I like the way people express themselves,” Mr. Bernier said.
Shen Yun, with its presentation of classical Chinese dances, folk and ethnic dance styles, and all-original songs and musical scores, takes the audience on a grand historical journey across the vast land and diverse dynasties of the Middle Kingdom.
“I’ve seen many shows but this is very different because, essentially, it’s covering thousands of years of culture,” Mr. Bernier said.
“Chinese culture is very, very broad,” he said. “That’s what I like about it.”
With reporting by Christine Ni and Cindy Chan
Shen Yun has three equally large companies touring the world with an all-new program each year. Each company has its own orchestra and vocal soloists. Shen Yun’s International Company will be in Montreal until Jan. 8 and then continue on to Kitchener, Ontario.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
