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‘It was uplifting. It was awesome in the true sense of ‘awesome,’ and it’s something that is going to be very memorable. Certainly I will be back next year to see the new show. Spectacular!” said Mr. Brooks, who attended with his wife Gail Wallace.
Mr. Brooks served as a councillor and mayor of the Township of Rideau before it was amalgamated with the City of Ottawa. He now represents that area as a city councillor.
Among the dances in the show that most touched Mr. Brooks were the two that depicted an ongoing issue in China today—the persecution of Falun Gong, a meditation practice rooted in ancient Chinese traditions.
“I think that, as a society here in Canada, we have so much of everything and we tend to forget those people who do not have what we have here and that is freedom. We have freedom of speech, freedom of action, freedom of choice, and there are countries around the world that do not have that. And I think that’s a message that was clearly delivered in the performance we saw here today.”
He said that message was “absolutely” good for society to be reminded of.
“I think that with the performance that we saw here today, what will catch the younger generation’s attention is the performance itself. It’s the music, it’s the colour, the dance.”
He said he would encourage his friends to come and see the show.
“You simply have to see it to believe it. … It was just spectacular—the singing was great, the music was great, the backdrops were great, the costumes were outstanding, and the story was interesting. …very interesting.”
When asked what he thought of Shen Yun’s innovative animated backdrops, Mr. Brooks responded in one word: “Unbelievable.”
When he returns, he said he will be bringing his two sons and their wives to the show with him.
“It was wonderful, fantastic,” added Mrs. Wallace, a retired teacher.
“The costumes were just beautiful. The singing—the tenor and the soprano were just amazing, just amazing. Everything about it was just very professionally done, very well done. If people did not see it, they missed a wonderful performance. They were just so wonderfully well-coordinated and choreographed. It’s just beautiful. Everyone was in sync with everyone else,” Mrs. Wallace. “Couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Mr. Brooks talked at length about one performance that stood out for him.
In the dance titled Astounding Conviction, a lone man stands on Tiananmen Square, holding a banner that reads “Falun Dafa is Good.” In a scene that has played out in China hundreds of times over the past decade, this peaceful appeal is quickly met with violent suppression as guards tear the banner from his hands and beat him in the process.
“That’s the touching part, because you can see that although the individual that we saw in the performance, he has a sense of wellbeing, but he is not able express himself. There are consequences in expressing that sense of freedom [in China],” said Mr. Brooks.
“Wonderful performance,” he said.
“I think we are very fortunate to be invited to a performance like this. I was looking forward to it,” Mrs. Wallace added. “It was just amazing.”
Shen Yun will continue on to Montreal, Hamilton, and Toronto after finishing its last show in Ottawa on Monday. The company will then visit several cities in the United States before returning to perform in western Canada in March.
For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
