The beauty queen and executive says that besides being “extremely amazed by the performance,” she remains captivated by the “light and love” it emanates, qualities that inspired her “to do a lot more good work for people who are need.”
The organization, which is in the creative entertainment field and affiliated with the Miss World Canada Pageant, has a philanthropic focus on bettering the lives of children and eliminating poverty around the world.
“I know that Shen Yun takes its inspiration from the divine and expresses it through art, classical Chinese dance, and music,” she said.
‘What Could Be More Honourable’
Her comments spoke to the mission of Shen Yun, to “revive a culture that was once almost lost.” On its website, the dance company explains that it’s aspiring to revive the true traditional culture of China—a deeply spiritual culture—before communism took hold, as this essence of the heritage has been systematically destroyed under decades of communist rule.Ms. Suleymanova observes that “Shen Yun displays beliefs that are from ancient China, and they are compassion and love, and there’s honesty and faith.”
“You can see how much heart and dedication the performers put into their work. What could be more honourable than that?” she added.
A big part of her organization’s humanitarian work is to connect with and learn about different cultures and traditions and to promote those diverse forms of heritage in the world, Ms. Suleymanova said.
Having seen Shen Yun, “I have a better understanding of the Chinese rich culture,” she said. She expressed hope about its mission to revive China’s traditional culture in today’s world, as “all the things that they’ve shown are beautiful—it’s compassion, love, it’s faith, all the good things.”
‘A Must-See World-Class Show’
In a Beauties of 5 Continents, video posted Feb. 25 on social media, the CEO invites everyone to come and enjoy Shen Yun at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre, where it will perform seven shows from March 20 to 25.“Everything in this show, from the precision of the movements to the complexity of the choreography, live music, vivid colours for the costumes—the artistry is absolutely breathtaking,” she said in the video.
“It is so captivating and emotional. It transcends the culture, the light, the beauty, the humour, and the love.”
In her interview, Ms. Suleymanova highlighted the remarkable synchronicity of Shen Yun’s dancers as one of the aspects that impressed her the most.
She described it as “the precision of the movement of every performer at every moment, making it perfectly synchronized at any given moment of the show.”
“Every year Shen Yun has new choreography and new costumes, so it’s an entirely different experience and different performance,” Ms. Suleymanova said.
“Having enjoyed [it] so much the first time, naturally I will want to come back,” she said. “I'll have the time of my life, and my breath will be taken away yet again.”
She called Shen Yun “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a must-see world-class show.”