SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Actor Says Shen Yun ‘Opens Up Your Spirit’

Mar 17, 2024
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Actor Says Shen Yun ‘Opens Up Your Spirit’
Actor Mark Haptonstall at Shen Yun at Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado Springs, on March 16, 2024. (Lily Yu/The Epoch Times)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Mesmerized by the advertisements for Shen Yun Performing Arts, Actor Mark Haptonstall bought tickets to see the performance at Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts on March 16.

“I just feel really full of life right now,” he said. “I love the show. It’s absolutely amazing … very uplifting [and] inspiring—just like this purity of spirit.”

“Even just seeing the commercials … it would stir something inside of me, kind of like springtime—a feeling of renewal and faith,” he added.

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Along with folk dances and solo performances, the production depicts story-based pieces that tell tales from ancient times to the modern day.

According to the company’s website, the presented heroes and ancient legends express the most exalted virtues of Chinese civilization that are still relevant to the modern day.

As an actor who starred in the 2017–2018 television series “Unusual Suspects: Deadly Intent,” Mr. Haptonstall was pleasantly surprised by Shen Yun’s storytelling through dance.

“It’s really exciting to have so much of a narrative to hold on to,” he said. “They’re not just performing the dance—they’re actually communicating something inside to the audience.”

With its flips and gentle elegance, classical Chinese dance is one of the most athletic and expressive art forms in the world. According to the Shen Yun website, classical Chinese dance involves a dance-acting element where coordinating facial expressions with physical movements results in an amplified form of expression.

“The dancing is phenomenal … it seems athletic but also soft like a poem,” he said. “Each little nuance: some about youth, some about spirit, and overcoming the oppression—I’m excited for more!”

Since 2006, Shen Yun has performed at top theatres worldwide with a mission to revive China’s 5,000-year-old traditional culture. The age-old culture has been on the brink of extinction since the Chinese communist regime seized power in 1949.
Drawing upon ancient China’s Buddhist and Daoist philosophies, Shen Yun says its performances demonstrate “China before communism.” Hence, Shen Yun is banned from performing in China.
Seeing the beauty and significance of ancient Chinese culture, Mr. Haptonstall said, “It makes me wonder why communism would oppress something so beautiful.”

“I’m glad that [Shen Yun] are keeping that fire alive and sharing it with the world.”

He said that the performance, from the choreography and live orchestra to the digital design, “go together so beautifully that it kind of reminds you of a time before life—[a] spiritual life” and that “it feels familiar in a sort of way.”

“It’s more than the dancing: It touches you as a person,” he said. “It kind of opens up your spirit while you’re watching.”

Reporting by Lily Yu and Jennifer Schneider. 
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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