VANCOUVER—Business owner Stephen McLeish and his wife, Angela, a school vice principal, thoroughly enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts’ matinee at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on April 13.
“Fantastic. Very inspiring and interesting to see the history of the country,” Mr. McLeish exclaimed.
“The colors and the pageantry, all the different dances and the culture of the country— it’s inspiring just to see it.”
The spread of atheism quickly eradicated Chinese people’s belief in the divine. The cherished virtues and values learned from the teachings of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism disappeared overnight.
Today, these New York-based artists are working to revive this lost civilization and bring back to the world through dance and music, the beauty of pre-communist China.
“It’s inspiring how they’ve resurrected the specialness of the culture through dance, and have saved it—we appreciate all that they have gone through to bring us this performance that is 5000 years old,” she said.
“If you were to go to China, you would expect to see something like this, but [that’s not the case.] We’re very lucky to be able to see this.”
Though Shen Yun is well-beloved by audiences around the world, it is currently forbidden by the ruling Chinese regime from performing in China. In fact, many of the company’s founding members had fled to America to escape persecution by the communist party.
“You realize how important it is to keep culture alive. What a tragedy it is to lose this— it needs to be resurrected and celebrated,” Mr. McLeish said.
He especially enjoyed the piece where the dancers’ long sleeves billowed and flowed like the gentle movement of water on stage. According to the company’s website, these sleeves were a part of ancient Chinese feminine attire representing humility and grace.
The performance is “unique. Everything is so polished. It’s very, very professional. Everybody is in unison.
The piece that resonated with Mrs. McLeish was the story-based dance depicting the origin of Chinese Valentine’s Day.
“The love story is always a big favorite of mine. Aesthetically, the costumes, and how they go from being on stage to then being on screen—the transition is phenomenal. It’s just a clean transition, there’s not a break in the performance at all. I think that was pretty magical.”
Lastly, the couple would like to thank all the artists for their hard work in bringing such an amazing performance to Vancouver. They plan to recommend Shen Yun to their friends and family.
“Fantastic. Thanks for coming, and we’ll certainly put the word out that it’s worth coming to see,” Mr. McLeish said.
