QUEBEC CITY, Canada–Jewellery designer Anita Blais is familiar with the pursuit of perfection in one’s artistic craft. So she recognized this quality as she took in the opening performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at Grand Théâtre de Québec on Jan. 13.
“We can see there is a lot of work on the stage,” she said after the performance.
“I imagine that [the dancers] started very young to work on their dancing skills to get to the point where they can be part of this troupe. It is so beautiful.”
Bijouterie Le Sablier, the Québec City jewellery store owned by Ms. Blais and her husband, Alain Descôteaux, was honoured as “Jeweller of the Year” by the Canadian Association of Jewellery Representatives, beating out 476 other jewellers.
The store was founded in 1990, and with some 25 years in the jewellery business, Ms. Blais has cultivated an eye for the finer things. She appreciated the aesthetic beauty in Shen Yun’s overall production, which includes hundreds of handmade costumes, high-tech digitally animated backdrops, and intricate props that help bring each dance and its story to life.
“It was full of grace, very, very elegant,” she said, adding that “so many things” impressed her about the performance.
“Everything was beautiful, great. It makes you feel like coming back.”
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its inception in 2006 it has grown exponentially, touring the world on a mission to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture.
Through its collection of story-based dance and Chinese folk and ethnic dance, Shen Yun portrays values and lessons from traditional Chinese culture. Ms. Blais appreciated this cultural education.
“It takes us on a journey,” she said. “The stories they put into the show–it was very good, interesting. It gives us information on what is taking place [in China], and it helps us understand those things.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Justina Wheale
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. Shen Yun’s International Company will continue on to Mississauga and Toronto after one more performance in Quebec City on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
