MISSISSAUGA, Canada—Professional golfer Craig Watkins and his wife, Nicole, a training manager in biopharma, attended a performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Living Arts Centre on March 25.  

“I think the dancing is incredible, the synchronization of the dancers and just how talented they all are. I think it’s spectacular and a lovely spectacle to watch,” she went on to say. “It’s a little bit, we were saying, it’s a little bit hypnotic. It feels very calming—relaxing. But that last [dance] was very energetic and exciting.”

Mr. Watkins said, “It’s a wonderful insight, like a window into almost a lost culture, right? So it’s very educational.”

“I like it all,“ Mrs. Watkins said. ”I like the way it’s done with the multimedia, with the video in the back, and the people, and the animation. It keeps it interesting.”

Mr. Watkins agreed. "They’ve made a good mix of mythology and some history, some of the heroics of Chinese history. So it’s interesting for sure.”

Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by leading Chinese artists and quickly became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture.

“I grew up watching a lot of the old Kung Fu movies,” Mr. Watkins said. “So a lot of it’s actually very similar to that kind of the history, Chinese history back in the day.”

“I mean we see there’s a message right now that’s trying to maintain that culture, at least as a thread, in China and in the world, so it doesn’t get extinguished by the Communist Party,” he added.

“I thought that the whole persecution [scene] was really interesting,” Mrs. Watkins said. “And very interesting that it’s still continuing on right now as we’re here in a different country. So I think it’s illuminating.”

“I think we read quite a bit about it,“ Mr. Watkins said. ”There’s been a lot of media attention paid to human rights persecutions in a lot of the communist countries.”

The couple said they had much they would share with friends about Shen Yun. “It’s an interesting educational evening of spectacular synchronized dance,” Mrs. Watkins said.

“It’s definitely worth seeing,” Craig Watkins said.

‘Heartbreaking’ That Shen Yun Can’t Be Shown in China

Andrew McEwen, an engineering director, and his wife, Effie Ledo, attended Shen Yun for an evening performance. “It’s been very good. Theatrics are wonderful. Costumes are amazing,” Mr. McEwen said.

He said his favorite piece was “the scene where they were showing the communist regime, the persecution.”

“I think that it would be great for the whole world to see it, to get a better perspective of what’s going on in China. And it’s unfortunate. It makes us, makes me, very proud to live in an area where I don’t have to deal with that kind of persecution, where I’m free to think and feel and do what I wish.”

Mrs. Ledo enjoyed the dances. “I love the ones with the dance with the fans. I really enjoyed that,” she said. “I enjoyed watching the culture and looking at how things are now. It’s too bad that we have to be in Canada and see something like this and that it can’t be shown in China. I find that rather heartbreaking. But I enjoy understanding what’s happened in the past and relating it to the present time. And maybe we'll learn something.”

The animated backdrop impressed Mr. McEwen. “It’s been very good. I would love to have seen a painted backdrop opposite to the computer animation, but the way that they’ve used the animation has been very creative, and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

“I love the way that the dancers leave the stage and then they seem to fly up into the air, and then they come back down onto the stage,” Mrs. Ledo said. “I think that’s very creative and fantastic. I love the colors and I like the way that everything is designed, and the backdrop and everything.”

“It’s very good. Like I said, very creative,” Mr. McEwen said of the show. “Clearly, a lot of effort has been put into making the show entertaining. Two thumbs up.”

“I love it! I’ve been waiting 10 years to see this,” Mrs. Ledo said. “And I finally decided to come and look at it. And it’s fantastic. I’m really happy that I came.”