OTTAWA—Bruce Morton who runs GreenScape, a local leading irrigation systems and landscaping company, was amazed with Shen Yun’s Performing Arts at the National Arts Center in the heart of downtown. He attended the performance with his wife Lucie on Wednesday. New York-based Shen Yun was performing it’s third of five shows in Canada’s capital.
“It’s remarkable, amazing. The physique and the stamina of the dancers, the flexibility, and the movement is really amazing,” said Mr. Morton after the first half of the show.
One of Shen Yun’s missions is to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese heritage through dance and song. Apart from the entertainment aspect of Shen Yun’s performance, the audience can also come to learn new and interesting facts about China.
Mr. Morton said he gained a new appreciation for the different ethnic regions in China, and he believes that the average North American may not be aware of the ethnic diversity in China.
“There would appear to be a lot of actual cultural differences in China because as evidenced in the different dances, there’s a lot of cultural diversity in China,” Mr. Morton said. “It’s quite neat, it’s quite eye-opening.”
The diversity of China’s people was further noted by Mr. Morton in reference to the Sleeves of Silk and Khata for the Heavens dances. “Some of the movement in that [Sleeves of Silk] was actually really quite remarkable, but yet very different from the last Khata dance we just watched. You must be looking at a completely different part of China,” Mr. Morton said.
Audience members are often impressed by the colourful costumes of the Shen Yun dancers. “So far they’ve been pretty amazing,” Mr. Norton said about the costumes. “We were commenting actually about the diversity of that as well.”
Every costume in a Shen Yun performance is presented with brilliant colours and from the traditional rightward cross-collared Han clothing to the ethnic attire of the Manchurian, Tibetan, Dai, Mongol, and Uyghur ethnic groups, according to the Shen Yun website.
Having a daughter who dances, Mrs. Morton appreciated the level of skill and athleticism of the performers. “The splits are amazing. The guys must have very muscular legs because they can leap,” said Mrs. Morton.
Reporting by Matthew Little and Kristina Skorbach.
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. The Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company will perform at the National Arts Centre on Dec. 19–23. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
