TORONTO—Brian Crombie, a radio show host and chief operations officer, watched Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 5.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its inception in 2006, Shen Yun’s mission has been to revive traditional Chinese culture and show audiences the beauty of “China before communism.”
In addition to dance vignettes, Shen Yun’s program also includes story-based dances, some of which are set in modern-day China and depict the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of followers of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.“I thought that the whole connection back to the faith is kind of interesting,” Mr. Crombie said. “I think that there’s a beauty to it and there’s also a message to it, and that makes it wonderful. ... Truth, compassion and tolerance are pretty good principles. I think that that’s pretty fantastic. Those are things that lots of us could and should live by a lot more often, there’s no question.”
Mr. Crombie also shared why he believed it was important that Shen Yun was performing in countries all around the world.
“And then, as I said, the connection to the faith or to the practice and understand that, and also to be confronted with the persecution that is currently occurring in China toward this practice. I think it’s wonderful that you got this juxtaposition of the beauty of the culture and the dance with the challenge that obviously this practice is encountering in China today. And so I think that traveling around and exposing people to it is great.”
Mr. Crombie felt that many of the messages and values he saw in Shen Yun’s performance resonated with his own Christian faith.
“I do think it’s fascinating to me that ... dance is part of every culture,” Mr. Crombie said. “It’s interesting that all these different cultures, all these different races, all these different religions around the world have so many similarities. .. If we all want to dance, if we all want to sing, if we all want to have drums, if we all want to have truth, compassion, and resilience, that’s got to say something.”
“Truth, compassion, and tolerance ... that’s pretty universal,” he said. “And I think that that’s worth sitting back and really thinking about.”
“The orchestra is spectacular,” Mr. Crombie said. “There were also some other instruments that I’ve never seen before. [It’s] interesting that you have very similar instruments and very different instruments. Doesn’t that make life beautiful, that you can experience all those different types of ways to celebrate music.”
Mr. Crombie also expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to see Shen Yun, and encouraged “anyone that’s got the opportunity to come see [Shen Yun].”
