MISSISSAUGA, Canada—What do a competitive dancer, news writer, and restauranteur have in common? A creative streak is essential to their work, and they were all delighted by the creative talent they saw when they came to see Shen Yun Performing Arts on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 17.

New York-based Shen Yun, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, tours the globe with an all-new and all-original program every year. On Saturday, Shen Yun staged the second of four shows at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga. 

Lennett Yorke has some understanding of what it takes to perform. She did competitive Highland dancing and won various awards from the time she was 7 years old until she was 21. Highland dancing is a very precise and technical dance form from Scotland that requires a great deal of stamina, strength, and mastery of technique.

Ms. Yorke danced mainly in southern Ontario but also competed in Scotland and toured a number of other European countries as well, including Denmark, France, and Belgium.

It was many years ago, but as a former dancer she was delighted to have been invited to accompany her girlfriend to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Living Arts Centre as a Christmas gift from her friend’s three daughters.

“I find it extremely interesting. It’s very exacting and it tells a tremendous story,” she said. 

“It gives you a wonderful understanding of cultural expression,” she added.

Founded in 2006, Shen Yun takes as its mission the revival of the five-millennia-old traditional culture of China, through excellence in classical Chinese dance and music, including ethnic and folk dances from the various dynasties, ethnicities, and geographical regions of the Middle Kingdom.

Jatin Naik is a writer who has written for several newspapers and currently writes for a paper called the Update Weekly.

“It’s wonderful, it’s amazing. I really like the show,” Mr. Naik said. 

“I liked the whole concept of the show as well as the animation which was going on in the background, the graphic display, the costumes, and the music, and of course the dance itself.”

Shen Yun’s signature backdrop is a digital projection with vivid animations that extend the stage to diverse realms, providing the setting and scenery to complement each dance or song.

Originally from Bombay, India, Mr. Naik said that he learned more about traditional Chinese culture after seeing Shen Yun and that the presentation resonated with him.

“Coming here to the show really brought more light about the Chinese culture, and I also see some similarity between Chinese culture and Indian culture, basically in the dance numbers that I saw and even the music,” he said. 

This was not the first time Mr. Naik has seen Shen Yun, and he said he believed that many more theatregoers will be like him and make it a tradition to attend the show each time it travels to their city.

“The show is for sure very fascinating, and I’m coming here for the second time. ... I’m pretty sure many more people will follow and come to the show when it’s going to be regularly resumed,” he said. 

For Bhupinder Kalra it was his first time to see Shen Yun, and in a coincidence of sorts, he owns a restaurant called Bombay Chopsticks.

“The show is good, very interesting,” he said. “This is a new form of dance, combined with the pictures in the backdrop, they mixed these two things together. That’s a very elegant way of showing it.”

Reporting by NTD Television

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.