CHICAGO—Esther Pool has been winning awards for her contributions to dance in the northern Chicago suburbs since the early ’80s. Thus when she says “the dancing is powerful,” after seeing the Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company at the Civic Opera House, you feel she has earned the right to say so.
Having trained and studied at the Ballet Academy “Dimitri Rosstoff,” and currently the Dance Director of the Lake Bluff School of Dance, Ms. Pool saw the classical Chinese dance and music performance on Thursday night, April 19.
“It was beautiful, absolutely,” she said.
Classical Chinese dance has, over thousands of years, “become a complete system of dance embodying traditional aesthetic principles. Classical Chinese dance has three main components—bearing, form, and technical skill, according to the company’s website.
Ms. Pool commented on the athleticism required for classical Chinese dance, which includes spins, flips and leaps, as one aspect that differed from the Western tradition.
She also enjoyed the quality of the dancers, both male and female and the differences between them.
For the females, she noted poetic quality and softness within the dancers and the strong energetic dancing of the men.
Complementing the dancers were the costumes, according to Ms. Pool, saying the combination of colors was “beautiful. I liked it very much.”
Reporting by Catherine Wen and Sharon Kilarski.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world, with a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company will perform in Chicago through April 22.
For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
