SEOUL, South Korea—South Korea’s traditional dancer, Jeong Myeongsuk, was in attendance for Shen Yun Performing Arts at Seoul’s Sangmyung Art Center on April 15. “As a Korean traditional dancer, I think Shen Yun as a whole, from the performance to choreography, is brand new,” she said. “I was indeed quite amazed. It’s really great, really fabulous. It’s really a pity that people can’t see such a wonderful show in China.”
Ms. Jeong, known as a dancer of the most important intangible cultural heritage, is the alternate preserver of Salpurichum (Solo dance for spiritual cleansing), which is designated as Important Intangible Cultural Properties No. 97, in South Korea. This Korean traditional dance is so unique that it is rarely be seen in other countries. There are very few people like Ms. Jeong, who is both a first-class dancer as well as proficient in Salpurichum.
She predicted that Shen Yun “will be thriving and prosperous in the future. I hope it will develop on an increasing scale in the world, be more and more popular, and become more and more flourishing.”
As for the skill of the Shen Yun dancers, she said, “Dozens of performers moved as perfectly as if they were just one person,” she said. “It’s just beautiful, just fresh, and original. I am so happy that I can see such a fabulous performance. All the dancers are so beautiful and so soft. Every piece of the artistic work is performed with such a high degree of taste and style.”
Ms. Jeong was also astonished by the dynamic backdrop. “I was very surprised to see the scenes where people came out from the backdrop. It’s very innovative, very advanced,” she said.
“I have a very strong desire after seeing the show,” she added. “That is, to re-create [works] based on preserving the roots and prototypes of traditional dances, and then to re-combine and re-create so that we can present outstanding works of art to the world in the new era of globalization.”
Read the original Chinese article.
Reporting by Zhao Runde and Lisa Huang
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
