MISSISSAUGA, Canada—Vanessa Harwood is one of Canada’s most celebrated dancers. On Saturday afternoon, the former principal dancer for the National Ballet of Canada, regarded as the country’s premier classical ballet company, came to Mississauga to catch her fourth presentation of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“It is lovely to be back, I must say, and it is lovely to see a new show. The dancers are beautiful, very beautiful. I am really enjoying it once again.”
Mrs. Harwood, in addition to dancing, has been a choreographer, artistic director, teacher, actor, and past president of the Actor’s Fund of Canada. She’s also served as a trustee for Toronto Arts and been on the executive council of the World Dance Alliance. In 1984, whe was name an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour.
She said this year’s presentation was entirely new for the dances and music, but its essence has remained true to Shen Yun’s defining mission to revive the spiritual essence of Chinese performing arts, a quality that has been lost under China’s current authoritarian regime.
“Always it has the same sort of feeling, because they are always promoting peace and goodnes, and I must say that when the young lady was killed and went to heaven, it was very moving.”
That number, Nothing Can Block the Divine Path, takes a scene from contemporary China of a mother and daughter who suffer at the hands of Chinese police for practising Falun Dafa, a meditation practice based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance that has been persecuted in China since 1999.
Mrs. Harwood has commented on this quality of Shen Yun’s performances in previous years. After attending one previous performance, she said, “There’s this sort of calmness that goes through it, this ethereal feeling… It has passion, but yet it’s calm. And it’s beautiful. . . . It’s not just pretty pretty, it’s serious pretty—there’s a lot of depth to it, and a lot of meaning. They take it very seriously, and it’s beautiful to see.”
This year’s program included different dances involving different skills, including one dance that has the female dancers on stage twirling and tossing handkerchiefs with practiced ease
“The dances are all very beautiful ... The hankerchiefs, very clever, difficult to handle, because it would be easy to lose them, and they are all together ... very clever.”
When asked, from a professionals point of view, what was behind putting on the kind of performance the audience was treated today.
“Lots and lots of work, hours and hours of work, because I understand how that works,” she said.
In previous years, Mrs. Harwood has always enjoyed the different ethnic dances Shen Yun performed. This year was the same.
“The Tibetan dances, were very lively, livelier than I expected, quite different from the Mongolian dances which I always enjoy. They are always quite different from the classical Chinese, just a little bit of a different feeling. They’re always charming. Energetic.”
For more information, visit www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
“It is lovely to be back, I must say, and it is lovely to see a new show. The dancers are beautiful, very beautiful. I am really enjoying it once again.”
Mrs. Harwood, in addition to dancing, has been a choreographer, artistic director, teacher, actor, and past president of the Actor’s Fund of Canada. She’s also served as a trustee for Toronto Arts and been on the executive council of the World Dance Alliance. In 1984, whe was name an Officer of the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour.
She said this year’s presentation was entirely new for the dances and music, but its essence has remained true to Shen Yun’s defining mission to revive the spiritual essence of Chinese performing arts, a quality that has been lost under China’s current authoritarian regime.
“Always it has the same sort of feeling, because they are always promoting peace and goodnes, and I must say that when the young lady was killed and went to heaven, it was very moving.”
That number, Nothing Can Block the Divine Path, takes a scene from contemporary China of a mother and daughter who suffer at the hands of Chinese police for practising Falun Dafa, a meditation practice based on truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance that has been persecuted in China since 1999.
Mrs. Harwood has commented on this quality of Shen Yun’s performances in previous years. After attending one previous performance, she said, “There’s this sort of calmness that goes through it, this ethereal feeling… It has passion, but yet it’s calm. And it’s beautiful. . . . It’s not just pretty pretty, it’s serious pretty—there’s a lot of depth to it, and a lot of meaning. They take it very seriously, and it’s beautiful to see.”
This year’s program included different dances involving different skills, including one dance that has the female dancers on stage twirling and tossing handkerchiefs with practiced ease
“The dances are all very beautiful ... The hankerchiefs, very clever, difficult to handle, because it would be easy to lose them, and they are all together ... very clever.”
When asked, from a professionals point of view, what was behind putting on the kind of performance the audience was treated today.
“Lots and lots of work, hours and hours of work, because I understand how that works,” she said.
In previous years, Mrs. Harwood has always enjoyed the different ethnic dances Shen Yun performed. This year was the same.
“The Tibetan dances, were very lively, livelier than I expected, quite different from the Mongolian dances which I always enjoy. They are always quite different from the classical Chinese, just a little bit of a different feeling. They’re always charming. Energetic.”
For more information, visit www.ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
