HAMILTON, ON—Ruth McGuirl, a Crown attorney and public prosecutor for the federal government, felt a connection with the Shen Yun Performing Arts performances that touched on the freedoms Canadians enjoy but are denied elsewhere.
In her other role working with United Nations, Ms. McGuirl helps train police and prosecutors to investigate human traffickers and migrant smugglers, crimes coming under increasing international attention because of the harm inflicted on the victims.
Like those who fall into the hands of organized criminal organizations that deal in human lives, many people in China today are also left helpless before a regime that deprives them of their basic human dignity. While only a handful of Shen Yun’s dances touch on this theme, they were special for Ms. McGuirl.
“I liked that they really emphasized the freedom of expression, the freedom of religion. They sort of wove that into the program as well. I think it’s good to have a little bit of public awareness about some of the things going on in China at the time. Overall it was very very beautifully done,” she said.
“I think it was great that they are using this as a bit of a platform to talk about the fact that in China right now they don’t have freedom of expression or freedom of religion and that people are still being persecuted or arrested by the police just for having an opinion.”
But beyond the seriousness of some of the pieces, Shen Yun is a celebration of China’s 5,000-year-old culture, and Ms. McGuirl said she also enjoyed that aspect of the show.
“It was beautiful, it was very classy, it was beautifully done,” said Ms. McGuirl, who was joined that night by her mother and father.
“We really like the hybrid of the classical instruments, the Western classical instruments, and the Chinese classical instruments. The costumes were incredibly beautiful and very classy as well,” she said.
After seeing Shen Yun she said she would recommend the show to everyone.
“We will be telling people about it for sure.”
Shen Yun will stage one more show in Hamilton Thursday afternoon before going on to Kitchen-Waterloo, Montreal, and Toronto. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
In her other role working with United Nations, Ms. McGuirl helps train police and prosecutors to investigate human traffickers and migrant smugglers, crimes coming under increasing international attention because of the harm inflicted on the victims.
Like those who fall into the hands of organized criminal organizations that deal in human lives, many people in China today are also left helpless before a regime that deprives them of their basic human dignity. While only a handful of Shen Yun’s dances touch on this theme, they were special for Ms. McGuirl.
“I liked that they really emphasized the freedom of expression, the freedom of religion. They sort of wove that into the program as well. I think it’s good to have a little bit of public awareness about some of the things going on in China at the time. Overall it was very very beautifully done,” she said.
“I think it was great that they are using this as a bit of a platform to talk about the fact that in China right now they don’t have freedom of expression or freedom of religion and that people are still being persecuted or arrested by the police just for having an opinion.”
But beyond the seriousness of some of the pieces, Shen Yun is a celebration of China’s 5,000-year-old culture, and Ms. McGuirl said she also enjoyed that aspect of the show.
“It was beautiful, it was very classy, it was beautifully done,” said Ms. McGuirl, who was joined that night by her mother and father.
“We really like the hybrid of the classical instruments, the Western classical instruments, and the Chinese classical instruments. The costumes were incredibly beautiful and very classy as well,” she said.
After seeing Shen Yun she said she would recommend the show to everyone.
“We will be telling people about it for sure.”
Shen Yun will stage one more show in Hamilton Thursday afternoon before going on to Kitchen-Waterloo, Montreal, and Toronto. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
