TAIPEI, Taiwan—Yang Sen-Hong, member of AICA Taiwan (International Association of Art Critics) as well as a veteran journalist, praised Shen Yun Performing Arts itself as art and culture.
He watched the company’s performance on Feb. 21 at the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
Having watched Shen Yun performances for many years, he said: “It is very different this year. I felt the special confidence and the impact from the performers from the very beginning [of the show]. In the past, they seemed to be dancing as carriers. But this time Shen Yun herself is dance. It has changed from ‘We are dancing’ to ‘Dance is us’.”
True Homage to Chinese Culture
He continued to explain the ‘confidence,’ by saying, “When I look at those early works from the Renaissance, I saw the confidence of the artists. Be it the sculpture or painting, there was the confidence that no one could do it better. That confidence is in Shen Yun. They show us that no one will dance better than they can. She is the number one. That’s the feeling. No critique is ever needed. She is the number one. She represents herself. If there is a cultural renaissance in China, this could be the start.”
Yang Sen-Hong indicated that at the AICA, there are internal critiques and standards for the overall achievements of art and the definition of arts and dances. “I see (Shen Yun) herself is the arts. She is the culture. This is something hard to come by,” he said.
Speaking of the revival of Chinese culture, he said bluntly, “The effort by the Republic of China (Taiwan) has done is incomparable to that achieved by Shen Yun, not to mention the destruction done by the People’s Republic of China (CPC). Shen Yun has kept those genuine values of Chinese culture, and further elevated them to the level of art. They have refined the dance and performance and brought in a new spiritual connotation. They are a true homage to Chinese culture.”
Yang Sen-Hong believed mainland China’s biggest problem is to mistake price as value. He said, “Under the leadership of the Communist Party, the worst part is that people see that it is rich. And I see it knows money but not value. On the contrary, Shen Yun stands at the opposite side, that is, Shen Yun stands on the side of values. Those values can not be approached, however rich the entire country of China is.”
He stressed that China today no longer stands for its traditional culture. “But Shen Yun can,” he said. “The true Chinese culture is found overseas. Perhaps someday, I hope she can return to really lead China. I will say she [Shen Yun] has the confidence that as a culture, once returning to China, she will lead, and she must lead. It is for sure because she went deep into our hearts.”
AICA,Taiwan (International Association of Art Critics) is a National Section of Association Internationale des Critiques d'Art, UNESCO, United Nations (AICA,UNESCO,UN) founded in 2001, whose mission is to establish artistic creation and critics quality and promote exchange and respect of culture and arts.
Read the original Chinese article.
Reporting by Su Shi-Chiau, Wu Tsen-Chi and Jenny Li.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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