TOKYO—On the evening of January 31, crowds broke into applause as the curtain dropped at the end of Shen Yun’s third performance in Tokyo’s New National Theatre Playhouse.
Kumiko Miyaura, a former professional ballet dancer and recipient of Ministry of Education Award and Tokyo Governor Award, was in attendance along with her mother.
During intermission, the joyful Miyaura said, “Every single dancer in Shen Yun possesses supreme quality, where each fine movement and expression is indescribably graceful. I have seen numerous dance performances, but tonight’s Shen Yun is exceptional.
The exquisite performance profoundly moved the audience. “It’s wonderful! Absolutely magnificent,” Miyaura said.
Classical Chinese dance is one of the most challenging and expressive dance forms. Dancers must master intensely demanding physical expressions in the forms of leaps, turns and spins.
“Male dancers exhibited powerful agility and overall strength. On the other hand, female dancers portrayed tenderness and elegance through each movement,” Miyaura said.
“The delicate actions of the hand and the feet casts additional enchantment to the performance. Furthermore, the splendidly colorful costumes coupled with perfectly precise music presented a magnificent beauty I have never seen before,” she continued.
Miyaura particularly appreciated the animated digital backdrop that allows dancers on the stage to interact with dramatic vista’s of China’s beautiful landscape.
“The interweaving between the backdrop and the stage was marvelous,” she said.
Presenting a series of elegant traditional Chinese dances, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive 5000 years of Chinese culture.
Shen Yun tells stories, ancient and modern, through the universal language of dance.
“Frankly, I wondered in the beginning of the show whether I’d be capable of understanding the plots,” Miyaura said. “As the show went on, I realized that the stories in the program were concise and brilliant. They were simple to understand, and I found them very thought provoking.”
Reporting by Wu Lili and Lauren Lane.
Read the Chinese article
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
