Fast forward one year later, and Ms. Tokessy is back in the theater to see the renowned classical Chinese dance company’s all-new 2024 production. At Théâtre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts on Apr. 18, Ms. Tokessy recounted how Shen Yun impacted her life after attending the performance a year earlier.
“I was blessed here,” she said. “I got better physically. I went through a bit of a bad time. But then it was like something happened, and my whole life changed. It was a miracle last year that I experienced.”
Ms. Tokessy said that since watching Shen Yun last year, her health has improved. Through Shen Yun, she learned about Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. And she said that after reading Falun Dafa’s main text, “Zhuan Falun,” she felt her life “physically, mentally, spiritually, has just been put higher.”
“I just got my life force back,” said Ms. Tokessy. “My heart’s been filled. ... So much love and compassion and understanding and kindness, just to see people in a different light too, you know.”
“This year, I just found that [they] were really sending out a message of love ... because the message of love is what needs to be sent out at this time,” she said. “This show was more about success, and ... you can’t have success without love, kindness, and compassion.”
Ms. Tokessy said she felt enveloped in motherly affection throughout the performance and from the music.“It was like I was coming home,” she said. “[It felt like] somebody on my shoulder going, ‘It’s OK, take this music and let it soothe you, let it love you.’ It was almost like my mother was rocking me.”
“It just really, really grabbed me into profound melancholy ... I was thinking I was home in my crib or something as a child.”
“People really need to come and see this ... because this show is saving lives,” said Ms. Tokessy.
“I‘d like to thank you all. What you do and the heart and the soul that you put into your performances is just outstanding. ... I’d like to thank everybody in the orchestra for doing such an extraordinary job, and the beautiful singers and the dancers in the whole troupe. You really, really, really changed my life. So I'd like to thank you all for that, and may we all be blessed today and every day.”
Reporting by Dongyu Teng and Wandi Zhu.
