More than a decade of dance training coupled with an innate purity of spirit have enabled Michelle Ren, principal dancer with the Divine Performing Arts New York Company, to convey the deep inner meaning of classical Chinese dance in her performances.
Those who have seen Ms. Ren dance are struck by her gracefulness as she undertakes with seeming ease the complex movements in Chinese dance. Mr. Shumsky, a world-renowned violinist, said Ms. Ren “is an artist the minute she walks on the stage.”
“Her grace is an understatement in elegance, simplicity, and beauty, and her presence divine splendor,” Shumsky said.
Ms. Ren is also an experienced choreographer, and for the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) 2009 World Tour, she participated in the production of such pieces as The Five Millennia Begin, Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride, Mulan Joins the Battle, and Dance of the Yi.
She is the lead dancer in and a choreographer for Dignity and Compassion, a dance that holds profound meaning for her. It is set in a prison in contemporary China where a female Falun Dafa prisoner of conscience is tortured to the brink of death.
When the woman’s captor falls asleep, he is visited by an otherworldly vision in which guardian deities seek to claim his life as repayment for his terrible act. The woman then appears as a Boddhisattva and is moved by compassion to have her tormentor’s life spared.
The piece, said Ms. Ren, is based on a true story. Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline with roots in ancient Chinese culture, was outlawed in 1999. Those who practice it face ongoing abuse at the hands of the Chinese authorities.
“When I started to choreograph this piece, I felt so terrible for a few days,” she said. “I could feel the experience that Falun Dafa practitioners are going through in China—both physical and emotional suffering.
“Yet these people, under such severe circumstances, have exerted their compassion and forbearance, which has touched their persecutors. I think that’s really great. They are selfless: ‘Regardless of how severely you persecute me, I will ultimately tell you not to commit bad deeds and hope that you can learn the truth.’”
Ms. Ren hopes that more people can see Dignity and Compassion, one of three pieces in the show that portray the persecution of Falun Dafa adherents in China.
“I think whoever can watch the performance has a deep predestined relationship with us. When mankind truly opens up their hearts, divine beings will then endow them with the best.”
