SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun’s Music Moves Architectural Designer to Tears

Apr 06, 2024

TORONTO—Raissa Siqueira, an architectural designer, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 5 and remarked on the beauty of the show.

“Everything was really, really beautiful,” said Ms. Siqueira. “The dresses, the dance, the music—was just amazing. Yes, it was a pleasure to be here.”

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has been the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company since its inception in 2006. Its performers come from all around the world, united in their mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and the beauty and goodness of China before communism.

Shen Yun currently has eight equally sized companies that tour the world simultaneously each year. The 2024 season will bring them to over 200 cities across more than 20 countries spanning five continents.

The music of Shen Yun, performed by a live orchestra that is a unique combination of traditional Chinese and Western instruments, deeply touched Ms. Siqueira. She shared that she was a fan of Asian culture and that the style of music was familiar to her.

The traditional Chinese two-stringed erhu especially left a deep impression on her.

“The two strings instrument, that was new for me and it was one of my favorite parts of the show. It was beautiful,” she said. “[It] made me cry.”

Although the erhu has only two strings, like human vocal cords, it can express a wide range of emotions.

Ms. Siqueira said she was somewhat doubtful when the emcees introduced the instrument, saying it was able to express every type of feeling. But when she heard the erhu soloist perform, she found that she was indeed able to personally experience the different emotions it evoked in her.

“I didn’t really believe [the emcee] until I found myself crying a lot and then enjoying it. It’s fun, and then suddenly it’s kind of epic at the same time,” she said, noting that the erhu player “showed us everything.”

In addition to the music, Ms. Siqueira also enjoyed the story-based dances in Shen Yun’s program.

“I enjoyed that I could sense romance,” she said. “I could feel the pain of the characters. The funny parts were extremely funny with the music. All the instruments were working for that. So that was very, very interesting [and] beautiful.”

Shen Yun’s patented animated backdrop captivated her attention as well. She said her senses were kept busy as she tried her best to take in all of the different elements of the Shen Yun performance.

“There was a lot going on,” said Ms. Siqueira. “With all of the characters, the dancers, plus the song, plus the background. At some point, I was fully distracted by the background because it was very beautiful. I felt like I wanted to live in those days, [which were] much better than today.”

She also commended the harmonious collaboration between the different aspects of the performance.

“Whenever I got distracted by the dancers, the music was perfectly connected. When I was distracted by the background, it was also perfectly connected. Everything was very engaging,” she said.

Ms. Siqueira added that she would like to bring her family and friends to see Shen Yun.

“I would like to bring my parents definitely. I think my dad would have enjoyed it very much. And I would like to repeat the experience, maybe bring other people. Yes, I would invite people to come.”

Reporting by NTD and Wandi Zhu.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.