NEW YORK—“It’s like poetry in motion,” said interior designer Sondra Loewenstein about the performance by Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company at the Lincoln Center, Jan 17.
This was the first Shen Yun performance Ms. Loewenstein had seen but her companion, physician Gordon Anderson, was back for his third year.
The synchronicity of the dancers stood out to him this year.
“What impressed me the most about it is the precision of the work, that you can have that many performers working together…. that in itself is beautiful,” said Dr. Anderson.
Shen Yun performs classical Chinese dance, a comprehensive dance form that was passed down in imperial courts, and ancient Chinese theaters and opera for 5,000 years. It incorporates difficult leaps and flips along with a hundreds of unique movements and postures that require a high degree of technical training as well as deep emotional expression.
Ms. Loewenstein commented on the fluidity of the choreography combined with the colors of the costumes and backdrop came together like a poem for
“It’s very rhythmic and organic, and the colors are very nice and lively. It’s very poetic, it’s like poetry in motion,” she said.
Both enjoyed the mini-drama pieces, which tell stories and legends from Chinese history and portray vignettes from contemporary China. The themes of the stories center around traditional values like bravery, filial piety, loyalty, and kindness, says Shen Yun’s website.
“I like the intricacies of the stories that they tell with the dance,” Dr. Anderson said.
“It’s fascinating to watch a story being told through other means,” said Ms. Loewenstein, adding that she is more accustomed to storytelling through painting and that the dance allows “you to interpret it and experience it through your own... mind, your experience.”
Reporting by June Fakkert and Pamela Tsai
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.
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.