OGDEN, Utah—Like many educators today, Alicia Forman, assistant principal at an elementary school knows the importance of introducing American children to Chinese culture. “We actually have Chinese immersion at our school and so we have, up through 4th grade, a class of students that are learning Chinese. So, we brought some of our Chinese teachers today,” she explained after attending a performance by Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture,” states the New York-based company’s website. Its mission is to revive a culture that has almost been lost.
“It’s wonderful, it’s fabulous,” Ms. Forman said of the whole experience.
In mentioning one dance, the Mongolian Bowl Dance, out of the many short dances in the program, she said, “The cup dance was pretty interesting. My daughters are dancers and so to watch the Chinese traditional dance is really interesting to see ...”
“From their tents, Mongolian women emerge balancing bowls on their heads in a dance of welcome,” the program states. The dancers keep the bowls balanced on their heads through some very challenging moves.
“I’m just amazed at their ability to dance with just those cups just free standing on their heads, and the skill and balance that it takes to do that is amazing,” Ms. Forman said.
In mentioning Ancient Elegance she noted how the dancers used their sleeves as props: I noticed with the dances with the sleeves, the intricacies of dancing with that and … I know dancing with props and different things like that is pretty amazing.”
The last dance of the evening takes another tone altogether: “The last one, powerful, very powerful, yes wonderful,” she said. Divine Mercy explores the theme of the battle between good and evil. In it, people of faith gather to demonstrate in support of their beliefs until the police intervene.
In actuality, Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual practice, is brutally suppressed in China today. In the dance, “Heaven protects the righteous, and goodness ultimately triumphs,” according to the program.
“It makes me think of what some of the people there endure, basically. It’s nice to see the beauty of the things that they are doing, but it is interesting to have the content of what some of the people are enduring there as well,” she said.
Reporting by Youzhi Ma and Sharon Kilarski.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company is scheduled to perform at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Las Vegas, March 15–17. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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