VANCOUVER—Rapturous applause and admiration greeted Shen Yun Performing Arts upon their return to Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Jan. 16. The group has been making annual visits to Vancouver since 2007 and each year audience members are full of praise for Shen Yun' portrayal of traditional Chinese culture.
Primarily through the medium of classical Chinese dance, Shen Yun has been educating audiences about essence of the true Chinese culture.
Clarence Debelle and Robyn MacKay, a couple who work as realtors in Vancouver’s luxury home market, attended the opening show.
“I thought it was a great exhibition of Chinese culture and I would suggest and recommend anyone to come and see it,” said Mr. Debelle.
“I thought it was beautiful,” said Ms. MacKay. “The dance, the whole performance, and the costumes were absolutely amazing.”
She was especially impressed with “the colour and the texture, the flow of the material.”
Shen Yun’s costume artists collect countless designs of traditional attire, ranging from those of emperors, ministers, and generals to the everyday clothing of the common people, according to the group’s website. They use bright colours to tailor and recreate hundreds of new pieces each season.
Mr. Debelle was particularly impressed with the calibre of dance.
“It’s just highly perfected,” he said. “The dancing’s beautiful, the choreography’s amazing, but there’s so many acrobatic moves involved in it as well that it’s just spectacular.”
Jumping, turning, and flipping techniques along with the exquisiteness of bearing and form give classical Chinese dance special expressivity, the website says. It is able to transcend ethnic, cultural, and even linguistic barriers, taking this well-established Chinese culture and presenting its essence to the world.
The music is also something that stood out for the couple. Shen Yun’s live orchestra is a unique hybrid of both Eastern and Western classical traditions.
“I loved the music,” said Mr. Debelle. “I could sit there and listen to it all night.”
In addition to the live orchestra, Shen Yun also incorporates solo vocal pieces performed in the Western Bel Canto tradition.
“We both loved the sopranos,” said Ms. MacKay. “They were lovely.”
“Very, very powerful and strong voices,” added Mr. Debelle.
Through story-based dance, Shen Yun tells traditional Chinese legends and tales that exemplify traditional Chinese values and spiritual ideals.
“It made me realize how the same we are,” said Mr. Debelle. “Because it boils down to love, compassion, kindness, and treating your fellow man properly, and those are universal themes, and we are so much more alike than we are different.”
Asked if he would recommend the show, Mr. Debelle said: “Absolutely! Go, you won’t be disappointed, you‘ll learn something, it’ll touch your heart, and you'll walk away having seen an absolutely spectacular show.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
