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Shen Yun’s Cultural Storytelling Impresses in Ottawa

287 views · Published 31 December 2018 · 1:49 · Indexed 8 October 2026

Channel: NTD · 2018 · News & Politics

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Shen Yun Performing Arts kicked off the Canada-leg of its 2019 world tour by performing to a full house at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

People from all walks of life enjoyed the performance and said, it’s an experience of the human spirit.

“It’s very colorful. The dance, the music, was very impressed by the soprano that’s been singing tonight,” said Simon Blouin-Sirois, trade policy analyst at Global Affairs Canada. “I like the deepness of not only the voice but also the lyrics.”

“I really enjoyed it. It was both funny at different times. It was stunningly beautiful,” said Leonard Reil, senior policy adviser at Global Affairs Canada. “I thought it had a lot of emotional resonance. It was just a really interesting, a really enjoyable performance.”

“The erhu! I heard that so many places in the world, now I’m hearing it here,” said Nérée St-Amand, professor at the University of Ottawa. “I feel like I could cry because it’s so beautiful. It’s such a pure instrument, divine instrument. When you see these beautiful movements and colors and music and all this and the lessons that behind this, I’m hopeful for humanity.”

“Yeah, the music was incredible,” said Sarah Ives, a boutique Facebook and Instagram ad agency. “I’d say the colors were stunning and I was surprised that there were wonderful storytelling as well.”
“It’s a glance in the Chinese culture, really,” Sirois added.

“I think it does open one’s eyes to the rich culture that China has acquired over the years,” said Orest Nowakiwsky, president and CEO of Memcare Corporation.

“It’s very educational in a sense to a wider audience because of the historical approach that it takes, said Jacob Kovalio, associate professor at Carleton University. “In other words, telling people, showing people an impressive and straight-forward way as well as very known periods like Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasty.”

“I think it’s a very important component of the human existence,” said MP Robert Falcon-Ouellette. “Without spirituality, what are we? What makes us human beings?”

“And tonight’s was absolutely the best,” said David Kilgour, a former MP, Cabinet minister, lawyer, and prosecutor. “Even better than last year and I didn’t think that was possible.”

NTD News, Ottawa, Canada

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