OTTAWA—Shen Yun Performing Arts returned to Canada’s capital Monday night delighting former diplomat Marie Berube.
New York-based Shen Yun was founded in 2006 with a mission to reclaim and renew the true, divinely inspired cultural heritage of China. Shen Yun has three performance companies of which two are currently on tour in the U.S. and one—the Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company—began a tour of eastern Canada.
Shen Yun presents colourful and exhilarating performances of classical Chinese dance and music. The National Arts Centre, in the heart of the Ottawa’s downtown core, is hosting the performance for the sixth consecutive year.
Ms. Berube, a retired director at Foreign Affairs, had come to see Shen Yun for the second time. “I must say it was as good today as it was two years ago. I will come back for sure,” said Ms. Berube.
“It puts us in the mood for Christmas, actually. It was fantastic. Absolutely pure,” said Ms. Berube.
“Shen” and “Yun” put together describe the grace, compassion, and sublime beauty of the heavenly realms that are conveyed through the dancers on stage.
Stéfany Oliver, who works for Statistics Canada, was also in attendance Monday night. She was struck by the colourful costumes.
“The costumes are beautiful. I wish I could just take some home and wear them,” said Ms. Oliver.
Ms. Oliver was watching the Shen Yun performance for the first time and spoke about the choreography in the Sleeves of Silk dance.
“The costumes mixed with the choreography, how everything is evolving, especially the sleeves, how the sleeves are long and flow in the air. It’s so graceful,” said Ms. Oliver.
In the Sleeves of Silk dance, the sleeves act as extensions of a dancer’s arms creating an effect of fluttering wings or trailing ripples.
Another feature of Shen Yun’s performance is the digital backdrop that creates vividly animated settings effectively extending the boundaries of the stage. This feature was used extensively in the How the Monkey King Came to Be where the Monkey King, a key character in the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West can travel freely between Heaven and Earth.
“I love the backdrops,” said Ms. Oliver. “You see someone just jump down and then they’re up on the screen. They just disappeared and now they’re flying in the air. It’s great!”
Both Ms. Berube and Ms. Oliver were eager to tell their friends and family about Shen Yun.
“Tomorrow I’m going to work telling everyone about it. I’m going to tweet about it, and go on Facebook about it, and tell everyone,” said Ms. Oliver.
“What we should do is recommend this to our friends and family, to see the show,” said Ms. Berube.
Reporting by NTD Television and Rahul Vaidyanath
Shen Yun will perform at the National Arts Centre from Dec. 19–23. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
