PORTLAND, Ore.—Having been a dancer herself for many years, Yvonne Krill felt a special reverence for Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“I love it!” she said. “I'd love to take lessons.”
Years ago, Ms. Krill played the part of Clara in the Nutcracker Suite with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, so her experience in ballet helped to arouse a unique fondness during Shen Yun’s Jan. 17 performance at Portland’s Keller Auditorium.
Classical Chinese dance has aided in preserving China’s divine culture of 5,000 years. Through thousands of years of tempering, it was constantly refined, eventually developing into the vast and distinctly Chinese dance form we know today.
Ms. Krill was suspended in constant amazement through the performance. “Holding my breath, sighing, other spirited—like heavenly. Just like divine, like you call the show.” Shen Yun translates roughly as “the beauty of divine beings dancing.”
According to Shen Yun’s website, classical Chinese dance “has become a complete system of dance embodying traditional aesthetic principles with its unique dance movements, rhythms, and inner meaning.”
Struck by the unique and opposing natures embodied by the male and female dancers, Ms. Krill sensed the perfect unity exemplified by Shen Yun. “The men were so masculine and strong, and the women—how they walk, I don’t know. They float.”
She added that she felt “free” and “spiritual” at the curtain’s close.
Hoping to come again in the future, she noted that any piece of the performance could simultaneously be her favorite.
“I loved every single one,” she said. “I didn’t have a favorite. If I only saw one, that would be my favorite. Then if I came another night and saw another one, that would be my favorite.”
“Oh, very interesting. It really helps me understand,” she said.
Reporting by Chen Si and Michael Fitzgerald.
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.
