TORONTO—Shen Yun Performing Arts is doing a wonderful job presenting China’s traditional culture, remarked Torontonian Lou Piccioni, a real estate agent who saw Shen Yun on April 22 at the Sony Centre. So great a job, in fact, that he thinks the length of the performance should be increased.

“I actually think that I like it very much,” he said. In the sense that it is a three-hour performance, I think it deserves way more than three hours.”

Mr. Piccioni was especially impressed by the animated digital backdrop, which interacts with the dances on the stage, used for the story-dances in the performance. Through the backdrop, effects such as characters seemingly flying from the stage up to the sky and vice versa can be realized.

“The show is magnificent,” Mr. Piccioni said.

Being a martial artist, Mr. Piccioni particularly noted the ability of the male dancers performing the demanding flips and turns of classical Chinese dance, an ancient art form.

“I think the dancers are really talented, extremely talented,” he said.

“The male dancers are fantastic—very agile and very physical.”

Uplifting

Supply chain professional Natalie Parkhomenko said she loved the music and dance in Shen Yun, and found herself touched by the performance.

“I find it’s very colourful and it’s very interesting to see the traditional and the styles of the dance and the stories,” Ms. Parkhomenko said.

She was also interested to see the spirituality in the Chinese culture through the performance.

“[I enjoyed] the message about spirituality and that it’s important to preserve the culture and the roots of the nation,” she said, referring to Shen Yun’s stated mission of reviving China’s divinely inspired culture.

Sympathizing with the adversity faced by people of China today under communist rule, Ms. Parkhomenko noted her own background coming from the former Soviet Union and her first-hand experience with living under a communist regime.

“I can appreciate what this company is doing for the Chinese people—the freedom of speech, belief,” she said.

“It is uplifting in the hope that things will change [in] China.”

Reporting by Madalina Hubert, Dongyu Teng, and Omid Ghoreishi

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.