SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Dancers ‘Absolutely Incredible,’ Says Dance Studio Director

Jan 25, 2014
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Shen Yun Dancers ‘Absolutely Incredible,’ Says Dance Studio Director
Brittany Litun, a dance studio director, said she thoroughly enjoyed the Shen Yun Performing Arts show at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Jan. 24, 2014. (NTD Television)

VANCOUVER, Canada—Brittany Litun and other staff members at the dance studio she directs decided to come and see Shen Yun Performing Art as a group at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Friday night.

“We loved it, it was amazing. The dancers were absolutely incredible, very exciting,” said Ms. Litun, director of Everybody Dance Now Studios.

“We are actually doing a performance, an international kind of performance, for our recital, so we thought this would be very fitting to be able to experience Shen Yun and to enjoy the performance.”

At the heart of Shen Yun, which is based in New York, is classical Chinese dance, an art form with origins going back to thousands of years which has evolved and been perfected over the years.

According to the Shen Yun website, “Known for its incredible flips and spins, and its gentle elegance, [classical Chinese dance] is one of the most rigorous and expressive art forms in the world.”

“It’s very challenging,” said Ms. Litun, adding that she enjoyed seeing the different kind of flips and turns as well as the expressive form of the dance.

“I love all of the jumps and the turns, and it seems very theatrical as well, which is really, really interesting to watch,” she said.

“[The dancers] were unbelievable. Just the fluidity of their movement and their control and all the lines that they created was just breathtaking to watch.”

According to the Shen Yun website, alongside ballet, classical Chinese dance is one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.

“Classical Chinese dance is composed of three main parts: bearing, form, and technical skill. Other than complete training in the fundamentals, it also entails systematic training in movements and postures, as well as very difficult jumping and tumbling techniques,” says the website.

Ms. Litun said the dancers need more than just training to be able to put on a performance like Shen Yun.

“You have to have that gift as a dancer to be able to [do that],” she said.

She said she especially liked Lotuses in Bloom, a piece that extols the virtues of the Lotus flower. In the East, the lotus has long been a symbol of purity and divine perfection.

“The fans that had the fabrics really sort of expressed what the flower would look like, so what they were trying to create was really portrayed, which was wonderful to watch.”

Ms. Litun added that she was impressed by the all the various formations and the choreography in the performance.

“Everything was just so precise, and where the dancers stood and how they changed their movements was just very fascinating, because it was so effortless,” she said.

“They were all in perfect position and then some of their extensions with their legs and how deep they go and bring their leg up behind their head, that just blew me away.”

Reporting by NTD Television

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

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.