TAICHUNG, Taiwan---As a ballroom dance coach and martial artist, Mr. He Kuo paid special attention to the artists’ forms and body strength as he watched Shen Yun' first show in Taichung.
“Many people know how to flip but rarely can any of them dance and at the same time do the flips with precision. It’s hard to imagine that all the soft and light movements are results of solid body strength.” said Mr. He.
He believed that not only did the artists have to put in a lot of hard work to achieve such a level of technique, but their minds must be in a pure state as well in order to turn “their body strength into the charming and elegant moves.”
According to Shen Yun’s website, techniques are classical Chinese dance’s most distinct features, and they include two main classifications. One is “spinning the body,” which is a series of turning movements wherein the waist is the axis and the dancer’s torso is slightly tilted. The second is aerial or tumbling techniques, and is one of the most difficult kinds of techniques. All these jumping, turning, and flipping techniques, along with the exquisiteness of the bearing and form, give classical Chinese dance special expressivity.
This is Mr. He’s fifth consecutive year watching Shen Yun and his reason has been simple, “Because it’s good.”
Among the programs he saw on the night of April 6 at Chung Shan Hall, Mr. He was most impressed by “Poets of the Orchid Pavilion”: “The calligraphy of a master calligrapher is impeccable no matter how he does it. The fans in the artists’ hands were just like the brush in the hand of a master calligrapher, as they drew a mesmerizing picture no matter how they moved.”
The story depicts a group of scholars playing a unique drinking game, according to the program. The dancers use fans to mimic the scholar’s brushes as they write with elegant strokes.
Reporting by Hsieh Ping-Ping and Lin Hsin-Yi
Article in Chinese: http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/16/4/6/n7527541.htm
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.
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.
