MISSISSAUGA, Ontario—Ami Trivedi, CEO of a sales training company, felt goosebumps watching Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Living Arts Centre on March 21.
“The show was amazing. I liked how it showed from the beginning of China all the way to the present day as well, and then they actually brought it within itself,” Ms. Trivedi said. “I thought that was really beautiful. It’s showing the
history through dance.”
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s top classical Chinese dance company. Through
music and
dance, Shen Yun’s mission is to show audiences the beauty of China before communism.
The five millennia spanned up to the present day, Ms. Trivedi said, finding the story set in the modern day was particularly enlightening. Although
Shen Yun cannot perform in China under the communist regime, the stories based on true current events show people who hold onto faith and tradition in China despite the regime’s oppression.
“That one kind of opened my mind to see how things from before bring itself into the future as well in the present day,” she said. “And that was just beautifully done. It felt emotion behind it and just bumps.”
The music had been amazing as well, Ms. Trivedi said, impressed with the unique East-West blend of Shen Yun’s orchestra.
“I love how they showed the
orchestra was a mix of modern instruments and Chinese instruments, and the traditional instruments,“ she said. ”It was beautiful!”
Also in the audience was Alicja Wysocka, an opera singer, who was pleasantly surprised to discover Shen Yun’s program included a
bel canto solo as well.
“Oh, I loved it. It was such a wonderful surprise,” she said. “It was really, really beautiful.”
“The
musicians are phenomenal,“ she added, ”I’m very impressed, very impressed.”
Ms. Wysocka said she usually likes to close her eyes to enjoy the music, but that was “very hard because what I could see on stage is so beautiful, the colors and the dancing.”
“It was very transcending and genuine,” she said. “And something that I think that is beautiful and should be kept developing and continue to expand so that more people can see it because it is definitely something very special.”
Reporting by Daniella Wollensak, NTD, and Catherine Yang.
