‘Please, Keep Coming Back,’ Mississauga City Councillor Tells Shen Yun
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Brad Butt, a Mississauga city councillor, enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Canada, on March 22, 2024. NTD
MISSISSAUGA, Canada—City councillor Brad Butt saw Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Living Arts Centre on March 22 and expressed his appreciation for the classical Chinese dance company’s annual return to his city in the Greater Toronto Area.
“We’re always delighted in Mississauga to see Shen Yun come back every year—the wonderful performances, the cultural experiences ... right here,“ he said. ”So please, keep coming back. We love to have you here.”
Mr. Butt also took time to share what he believed was most important from Shen Yun’s program.
“The great thing about this is [getting] to experience Chinese culture from thousands and thousands of years ago that you would never get to experience [otherwise],” he said.
He described himself as someone who “lives in Mississauga and knows this community well but certainly doesn’t know or maybe appreciate sometimes the wonderful history that we have around the world.”
So, being able to see the performance and enjoy the culture in his own city is excellent, he said. “And, of course, we have such a strong Chinese diaspora here in the City of Mississauga. So to celebrate that as well with our friends and neighbors is wonderful.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has been the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company since its inception in 2006. Its performers come from all around the world, united in their mission to revive the traditional Chinese culture, 5,000 years in the making, and showcase the beauty and goodness of this heritage before communism took hold.
Shen Yun currently has eight equally sized companies that tour the world simultaneously, delighting audiences in over 200 cities across more than 20 countries and spanning five continents.
Sasha Zivkovic attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, Canada, on March 22, 2024. NTD
Also in the audience was Sasha Zivkovic, a regional sales manager at a retirement home in Mississauga, who has an interest in learning about different cultures.
“Within the retirement community, we embrace many different cultures and want to learn about the different cultures as well,” Ms. Zivkovic said. “Watching the history and understanding some of the history is really relevant to the folks that we often see within our industry.”
Shen Yun has been a great educational experience, she said.
“Not only is it beautiful, it’s breathtaking. The acrobats, the outfits, the design, the animation—it’s really quite powerful. So it’s been a real great eye-opener and a wonderful education,” she said. “As we’re going across so many years of history, ... [it has] certainly taken my knowledge to the next level.”
Shen Yun’s handmade costumes include attire that incorporates a variety of traditional Chinese artistic motifs, as well as garments celebrating the people of China’s different dynasties, regions, and ethnicities. The backdrop is part of a patented system of background-stage interaction that allows performers to travel back and forth between the stage and the backdrop.
After seeing Shen Yun, Ms. Zivkovic felt inspired to learn more about traditional Chinese culture and said she planned to tell the people at her workplace about the performance.
“[Shen Yun] has definitely piqued my interest,” she said. “When I go back, … I'll talk about my experience today and definitely share the knowledge and inspire others to participate, because it has been a wonderful, wonderful experience.”
Ms. Zivkovic also shared how she intended to recommend Shen Yun to others.
“I would say, don’t miss the opportunity. The performance, the music, the impact, the education, and … immersing in the culture has been really great, and they should experience it for themselves.”
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