(Clearwisdom.net) The Canon Theatre audience responded enthusiastically, moved by Shen Yun Performing Arts' depiction of classical Chinese culture through music and dance on Friday night, as the company staged the first of four shows in Toronto this season.

Victor Feldbrill, former resident conductor of the Toronto Symphony, was greatly impressed by the high caliber of the performers. "I felt it was highly professional, very well prepared. Everything blended, everything worked very well--it was sort of a perfect ensemble. It was really very fine, very well done," he said.

Shen Yun Orchestra conductor Chia-Chi Lin and Victor Feldbrill, a former resident conductor of the Toronto Symphony, at the Shen Yun Performing Arts show in Toronto on Friday night

He added that the show was, "...a great spectacle, extremely well done. It was very good."

The Shen Yun orchestra, conducted by Chia-Chi Lin, combines Chinese and western instruments. Mr. Feldbrill praised Ms. Lin's expertise.

"She had a lot to do with the energy that was coming offstage, because she had the orchestra playing very well and with lots of energy, and the dancers can respond to that," he said.

"If the orchestra is playing in a lazy way, then it's difficult for the dancers. The spirit of the music came from the orchestra pit and onto the stage. It was very, very obvious it was very good."

According to the Shen Yun website, the company seeks to present "the true, five-millennia-old artistic tradition of China" and "breathe new life into traditional Chinese culture while providing audiences everywhere with an experience of sublime beauty."

"That is what this group stands for, to go back to a tradition," said Mr. Feldbrill. "And it was extremely well presented that way, really very well done."

"I think that everyone can benefit from not forgetting the past," he added. "I come from a nationality that has over 5,000 years of tradition too, so I am quite aware of the need for it."

Opera Singer Moved to Tears by Shen Yun

When opera singer Carole Borsu felt a shiver upon hearing soprano Geng Haolan at the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Canon Theatre Friday night, she knew she was witnessing something truly exceptional.

Opera singer Carole Borsu at the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Canon Theatre

"Whenever I sort of shiver or feel something tingle, there is definitely something that resonates with me, and I could feel that in her voice. And it wasn't just the power, because her voice kind of rang, her voice felt like it was outside her body, so there was something about it that was very special. And you could also tell by how the audience reacted--they seemed to really enjoy her," she said.

Ms. Borsu said she was moved to tears during "Nothing Can Block the Divine Path," a piece in which a mother and daughter are attacked by police for practicing Falun Dafa exercises in a park. Falun Dafa is a spiritual discipline rooted in traditional Chinese culture that was outlawed by the Chinese regime in 1999.

She was impressed by the colorful costumes. "The costumes were gorgeous. They looked really expensive," she said. "You just see these beautiful flowing silk gowns and things that they were wearing--they were just so beautiful, especially those long sleeves, the way they flow. I love that it is such an effect when you see it, it is very beautiful and light and airy."

"[The show] was quite remarkable. It certainly went through different themes," she said.

"Some of it made me laugh, some of it made you feel more intense and more emotional, and some of it made you think. That's what was good about it--there really was a variety of things you could experience with that, whether it's the aesthetic, or something emotional, or maybe even intellectual."

Ms. Borsu, a trained opera singer and performer, is a dramatic coloratura, one of the rarest of voice categories. She is also a voice-over actor.

Dance Teacher: "It's very special"

Dance teacher Andrew Judelman was impressed by the Shen Yun Performing Arts show he attended with his wife on Friday evening. "The choreography is fantastic," he said. "The dancing, the costumes ... we're having a great time."

"[The way] the dancers move together is so beautiful, and the nature and the environment that work together with the dancers--it's a very special sight to see so we're very happy to be here tonight," he said.

Dance teacher Andrew Judelman enjoyed the Shen Yun Performing Arts show

As a dance instructor, Mr. Judelman was impressed by the great skill and technique of the artists, as well as the overall performance.

"The movement is so beautiful, the balance, the timing and the rhythm. The music balances really beautifully with the way the dancers move, and so it creates a beautiful scene and it's very peaceful. It's like harmony," he said.

"When everyone moves together so beautifully, it's very difficult to do, but the dancers make it look so easy. That's why it's very special."

Dance Department Chair Attends Shen Yun Performing Arts in Toronto Every Year

Mary Jane Warner, chair of the Department of Dance at York University, has seen Shen Yun perform year after year and makes sure to attend every time the company returns to Toronto.

The dance professor said that she is always very impressed by the performances. "They've always been beautiful dancers."

"They're quite remarkable dancers because they're so together in unison and they always have this beautiful quality of flow, of ease about their movements. They seem to be just truly enjoying what they're doing. It really comes across and you only get that with many years of hard, hard work and discipline."

Sources:

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/34984/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/34981/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/34973/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/34983/