Theatergoers in Ottawa, Hamilton, and Edmonton witnessed a glimpse into 5,000 years of China’s rich civilization, brought to life on stage in April.
Through the medium of classical Chinese dance, music, costume, and 3D animated backdrops, Shen Yun Performing Arts takes audiences on an immersive journey through China before communism.
Douglas Joyner, the former mayor of West Lincoln, said it was “very good, very enlightening, and very good choreography. I love the music, I love all the dresses, and the ensemble and the orchestra was amazing. Very much would come back again to see it. And I’m happy to know that there’s always new choreography each and every year. What I didn’t know is that there were eight individual troops going all over the world.”
“It’s so important to keep traditions going. And that it’s being lost in our society here very badly. To see a civilization that goes back thousands of years and have that culture being reintroduced again to a whole new audience, really important and wonderful,” said Michael Runtz, a professor and author at Carleton University.
“It is such an incredible show. It’s dynamic, the music, the colors, I’m blown away. I’m here with my family. And we’re all just looking at each other between scenes and the music. It’s just vibrant. And we’re loving every minute of it,” said Dr. Sarah Jane Meharg, an adjunct professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.
Traditional Chinese culture starts with the belief in spirituality and the divine. These themes play a pivotal role in Shen Yun‘s storytelling, depicting both the founding values of China, along modern-day communist China’s persecution of faith.
“I’m a believer in God. And I think everybody should have the right to believe in who they want to and what they want to and when they want to. I think the freedom of religion is one of the best parts about the freedoms that I enjoy here in Canada,” said Brian Jean, the Minister of Energy Minerals at the Province of Alberta.
“One thing that was really powerful was the fact that they were not ashamed of their spirituality,” said George Chrunik, the owner of G.C. Design. “They’re not ashamed of it, and that the culture is very powerful. Their spirituality is powerful. And they just say it on the stage. They profess it and it’s phenomenal, and they’re not scared about it, and they profess it, and they’re, and they’re proud of it, and that’s the way it should be. There should be no hatred.”
“It’s wonderful to see something that honors tradition and culture and enlightens people into what that is about in our modern day and age,” said Britta Runtz, a show host and producer on Hunters Bay Radio. “As a historian, I found it beautiful to see the spiritual aspect within it, and how wonderfully and choreographed it was, and to bring it all simply into one place and to bring that to a wider audience. It’s exceptionally well done and we’re honored to be here.”
Kelly McGuire, a counselor and the owner of a private practice, said: “have that hope that even if things are scary and painful, that the divine is still with us, always that it can be a message of hope. No matter what is going on, I do believe that there is divine. Always within each person, each human, the divine is already here. So I thought it was a beautiful message of hope for what people are going through right now.”
Kenneth Noster, the head of Wisdom Homeschooling, said: “the whole idea of this company, this organization, of wanting to represent truth and goodness, as absolutes, not in the way that our world tends to do it. Where truth is relative, no. Here the truth was very clearly from God. And then we can find truth, the more we actually open ourselves up to God, to the absolute truth.”
Shen Yun will next perform at the Duke Energy Center for the Arts, Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, from May 3 to 5.
NTD News, Ottawa, Canada
