TORONTO—“It takes more than talent to perform like the dancers of Shen Yun Performing Arts,” said Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Centre after seeing the final Toronto show April 24 at the Sony Centre.

“You have to put your heart and soul into it. I don’t know beyond the actual training of the movements, but one would assume there is a deep spirituality that is at play as well.”

A spiritual connection is at the heart of Shen Yun’s performance. The classical Chinese dance company was founded on a mission to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture. This foundation of Chinese society was forcibly repressed after the communist revolution in 1949, leading to performing arts being used to propagate communist atheism. Shen Yun aims to undo that. 

That means the dancers must achieve more than technical perfection—they must also strive to improve their inner character, according to Shen Yun. For Mr. Wrzesnewskyj, that came through in the performance.

“[It’s impossible] for anyone to be able to perform this way if they are not completely dedicated,” he said. 

Mr. Wrzesnewskyj shared his thoughts during the intermission. It was his second time seeing Shen Yun.

“The first half was spectacular. As in the past, it is just fantastic to watch. It was just as fabulous, and the expectation always is for a show of the highest standard,” he said.

“You can see the grace and the elegance of the dance, the choreography. Clearly these are dancers that must spend a phenomenal amount of time training.

“These are not people that approach it in an amateurish way. These are people that take these forms of dance to a very high level, but that means an incredible amount of dedication, and practice, and work. And that is why it comes through in the performances.”

Reporting by Becky Zhou

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.