LONDON—Two friends, Caroline Hart and Cynthia Key, were delighted by Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company’s portrayal of China’s 5,000-year heritage in classical Chinese dance and music.
The friends took in the exhilarating and colourful pageantry on Saturday afternoon, April 9, at The London Coliseum.
Ms. Key, a writer, journalist and teacher, said the show was “stylish, imaginative, fun … I love the way they integrate dance on the stage with the fantastic flight in the air on the cyclorama. You have modern techniques mixed with dance. People are dancing and they suddenly go into this other world on the screen—it was magic.”
Paint artist, Ms. Hart, thought so too, adding, “I thought the mixture of Western instruments and Chinese was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it!”
The New York-based company travels with its own orchestral ensemble, the ground-breaking Shen Yun Orchestra.
Shen Yun features story-based dances to help bring to life China’s divinely-bestowed traditions, such as the Plum Blossom dance that shows through bearing hardships, the pink blossoms look even more beautiful in the snow.
“The movements are very lovely. It’s a different speed from English classical dances, and it’s so lovely,” Ms. Key said. “Some of the acrobatic movements were amazing—the monks were very good,” referring to the dance Little Mischievous Monks who have fun while the abbot is away.
Shen Yun’s dances are inspired by tumbling and acrobatic techniques—jumps, flips, twists, and spins—that have been a part of classical Chinese dance for thousands of years.
Reporting by He Bin and Raiatea Tahana-Reese.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three companies touring simultaneously in Europe, Asia and USA. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The friends took in the exhilarating and colourful pageantry on Saturday afternoon, April 9, at The London Coliseum.
Ms. Key, a writer, journalist and teacher, said the show was “stylish, imaginative, fun … I love the way they integrate dance on the stage with the fantastic flight in the air on the cyclorama. You have modern techniques mixed with dance. People are dancing and they suddenly go into this other world on the screen—it was magic.”
Paint artist, Ms. Hart, thought so too, adding, “I thought the mixture of Western instruments and Chinese was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it!”
The New York-based company travels with its own orchestral ensemble, the ground-breaking Shen Yun Orchestra.
Shen Yun features story-based dances to help bring to life China’s divinely-bestowed traditions, such as the Plum Blossom dance that shows through bearing hardships, the pink blossoms look even more beautiful in the snow.
“The movements are very lovely. It’s a different speed from English classical dances, and it’s so lovely,” Ms. Key said. “Some of the acrobatic movements were amazing—the monks were very good,” referring to the dance Little Mischievous Monks who have fun while the abbot is away.
Shen Yun’s dances are inspired by tumbling and acrobatic techniques—jumps, flips, twists, and spins—that have been a part of classical Chinese dance for thousands of years.
Reporting by He Bin and Raiatea Tahana-Reese.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three companies touring simultaneously in Europe, Asia and USA. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
