MISSISSAUGA, Canada—Artist Suzi Dwor has spent her career doing what she loves—creating art and developing emerging artists. 

But she found an unexpected source of inspiration during Shen Yun Performing Arts’ performance at the Living Arts Centre on April 28: 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture. 

Ms. Dwor couldn’t say enough about the experience.  

“I’ve never seen a better show—just stirring, very emotional, exciting,” she said. “It was probably the most spectacular performance of dance and costume I'd ever seen ever. Ever.”

A highly sought-after educator and artist trained in paper-making and fibre design, Ms. Dwor has exhibited and taught art and design for 30 years throughout the U.S. and Canada. She’s currently the lead artist in the “Learning through the Arts” program in Niagara public schools.

The artist dabbles in mixed media, jewelry design, and clothing reconstruction, and has been known to create elaborate hand-painted kimonos out of paper. As a textile designer and teacher, Ms. Dwor said she found a wellspring of inspiration in Shen Yun’s intensely colourful costumes, cultural expressions, and aesthetic beauty, calling it innovative. 

“I’m going to tell my design students about it and share it with them. And study more about the [Chinese] history and the culture,” she said. “I’m very inspired.”

“I’m going to have to ruminate, and I’m going to go home and create some pieces and some art that have to do [with my] inspiration.”

More than just visual inspiration, Ms. Dwor said she was moved to tears by the vocal performances in Shen Yun, especially bass Zhang Ming. Shen Yun’s operatic singers perform in the challenging bel canto style, sung with Chinese lyrics. 

“It was so beautiful,” she said. “Very emotional.”

With nearly 20 different pieces accompanied by a live orchestra that includes traditional Chinese instruments, Ms. Dwor said Shen Yun’s expression of Chinese history and art forms was inspirational. 

“This was spectacular,” she said. “Particularly the storytelling, the history and the pace of it, and the diversity. It was just incredible.”

Reporting by Dongyu Teng and Justina Wheale

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun’s International Company is currently touring Eastern Canada. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.

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.