MONTREAL—Shen Yun Performing Arts was an “amazing spectacle” for Bulgarian consulate representative Svetlana Stoycheva, who attended the Jan. 10 evening performance at Place Des Arts.

“I am speechless,” she said. “It was very grand … It’s really something that will stay in my memory.”

Ms. Stoycheva is the deputy head of mission for the Bulgarian Embassy in Ottawa. She is also a former chargé d'affaires for the Bulgarian Consulate General in New York.

Shen Yun’s story-based dances were a very effective way to convey traditional Chinese values, and preserve the culture said Ms. Stoycheva.

“It’s an adventure for everyone in the audience, to see what the ancient people were experiencing, how their life was,” she said. “Experiencing it through dance and music is great.”

She also commented on the scope of the stories and legends—which span five millennia of Chinese culture, right up to the present day.

“What really was interesting for me is the combination of the past and the present,” she said. “You can feel this very well in the performance, bringing it from the ancient times to the contemporary times—how it transforms through the years.”

Ms. Stoycheva was proud that her friend and fellow countryman Kiril Tarpov conducted the orchestra for Shen Yun. Blending traditional Chinese instruments with a western philharmonic orchestra, it is the first orchestra in the world to combine the two on a permanent basis.

“I think he is doing a great job,” she said, noting the unprecedented challenge of blending the two instrumental worlds together. “I’m going to ask him how he manages this difficult effort.”

New York-based Shen Yun is a world-renowned classical Chinese dance and music company. Formed in 2006, it aims to revive China’s divinely-inspired traditional culture through the performing arts.

Ms. Stoycheva was blown away by the hundreds of handmade costumes featured in Shen Yun.

“I’m really impressed, I was stunned to see all the costumes, all the colours” she said, adding “the dancers were amazing.”

The high-tech interactive backdrops, which display scenes and landscapes from China’s multifaceted regions and geography was also a highlight for Ms. Stoycheva.

“The multimedia transported on the stage was very innovative and a very very interesting effect for me,” she said, adding it provided valuable context to the story-based dances.

“You get the story, you can imagine the story, even if you haven’t read about it … it was really nice.”

Ms. Stoycheva already started promoting the performance through her social media accounts before leaving the theatre, saying everyone should see Shen Yun.

“I really hope that many people would have the opportunity to watch it.”

Reporting by NTD Television and Justina Wheale

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. 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.