SYDNEY, Australia—Tanya Watkinson, a retired ballet dancer, enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Sydney Lyric Theatre on April 29.
“It’s very beautiful storytelling,” said Mrs. Watkinson, “a lyrical, colourful performance that takes you on a journey.”
“You can see beautiful precision in the artistry and the technique,” she said. “[A]nything that looks so easy, I know is made from a great deal of hard work.
Inner Expression Through Dance
With its flips and gentle elegance, Chinese classical dance is one of the most athletic and expressive art forms in the world. According to the company’s website, classical Chinese dance involves a dance-acting element where coordinating facial expressions with physical movements results in an amplified form of expression.“It’s lovely to see, it’s got that character,” she said, “but I also know it has to come from an inner stillness and a great deal of dynamic force within the body to be able to do that and make it look so graceful and easy.”
“It’s not something that comes from sheer brute strength, but from an inner quality.”
A Divine Connection
In the past, artists looked to the divine for inspiration and cultivated virtue in order to create uplifting art. Today, Shen Yun’s artists follow in this noble tradition, which is why audiences feel there is something different about Shen Yun, according to the company’s website.“Dance, in particular, has a long history in trying to show humanity the beauty of the divine and life,” said Mrs. Watkinson, “and [Shen Yun’s] doing a marvellous job in showing that.”“It is lovely to see these rich spiritual traditions being brought forward like that … it’s essential,” she said. “[I]t’s time to definitely find our spiritual selves within this world; otherwise, we will get so disconnected.”
Having come “so far away from our past,” she said that Shen Yun is beautifully “bringing us back to the divine and humanity.”
“I think it’s a big, big shame for China,” said Mrs. Watkinson, “there’s so many people in China that must be craving this history, craving the outlet of dance and storytelling, and a remembrance back to the beauty of what they know—which is clearly a very rich culture and a very, very rich history.”
