VANCOUVER—After seeing a Shen Yun Performing Arts advertisement on Facebook, company manager Marin Vinzyl was immediately captivated by the vibrant colors of the performance.
She knew right then that she had to see it in person. On April 12, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, that wish came true.
“It’s pretty good. [The performers] are very in tune with each other. The dancers are very good with the colors and the [animated] back screen,” she said during intermission. “It’s the first time I’m seeing that. ... It’s very interesting how they did it.”
Sitting close to the stage, Ms. Vinzyl was able to see the performers’ facial expressions and appreciated how they told the story through dance.
She loved the richness of traditional Chinese culture and appreciated that Shen Yun is showcasing China before communism. Ms. Vinzyl was happy to have learned many things from the performance that she hadn’t known before.
Reflecting on this, Ms. Vinzyl said, the regime oppresses the culture and oppresses people’s speech. She said, the artists “want to express themselves and they can’t express it in their own way, in a free way. I think that’s what the communists did in China.”
For its 2025 touring season, Shen Yun’s eight equally-sized companies will be performing in over 200 cities across five continents. Met with wide acclaim since its establishment in 2006, the company can be expected to return each year with a brand-new set of choreography and musical compositions.
Shen Yun has “a lot of energy. You can see they enjoy what they’re doing. They’re smiling the whole time. I feel the energy on the stage,” Ms. Vinzyl said.
