Shen Yun performed at the Théâtre Maisonneuve in Montreal, Canada, on April 18 and April 19, with a mission: to present a revival of 5,000 years of Chinese civilization on stage. Audience members marveled at the history and culture on display.
“Excellent, magnificent, incredibly colorful, and full of joy. The dance choreography is very good and well thought out,” said Nassim Sharara, account director of North American Marketing Company.
“I found it a beautiful way to travel through [history with] dance. I appreciate it enormously, getting to know this country from another angle and appreciating the beauty of China,” said Jean Hogue, director of Alta Yamaska District Municipal Council.
Along with stories of myths and legends, Shen Yun shines a light on communist China’s current-day persecution of faith groups like Falun Dafa. The spiritual meditation practice teaches the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
“I’m glad Shen Yun is doing this because for me, it’s a wake-up call. So wake up humanity, protect your rights and freedoms. Protect your constitutions. And the Divine, through meditation, it’s fantastic. … China is afraid of a movement like this because they are afraid that it will become a political movement, but it’s not a political movement. It’s a movement for personal development and awareness,” said Daniel St-Hilaire, vice president of People’s Rights & Freedoms Foundation.
“These [freedoms] are things we take for granted here. But in this country, I understood that it was a difficult situation for them and I felt the emotion of this song in his heart and in the entire population,” said Tony Longo, regional director of Auto Finance Franchise at TD Bank.
Audience members said they resonated with the themes of spirituality, along with values like hope and compassion in Shen Yun’s storytelling.
“It touched me a lot because I can understand the hope they have through the Divine. I see it and I feel it. Because a human being always needs to have hope in his life, so I feel it through the show,” added Mr. Longo.
“I’d say compassion, grace, gratitude, the beauty of the Divine and how all this beauty can lead us to elevate ourselves, our souls. I’d say my soul was lifted tonight, that it did my heart a world of good, and I’ll be carrying that message for a long time to come,” said Marie-Josée Lareau, creative director of a Consulting Company.
“I think that the values, family values, values of relationships between friends, between parents, the values of being a good person, that’s not lost. It’s not something that’s going out of fashion,” said Carl Larochelle, vice president of a North America Multinational Group.
Shen Yun will next perform in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 29 and April 30.
NTD News, Montreal, Canada
