GLASGOW, UK—For Lisa-Jayne Rattray, watching the classical Chinese dancers of Shen Yun, who seemed to float across the stage at the SEC Armadillo on Friday evening, raised the bar for her as a musical performance director.
Rattray said her heart was racing despite the calmness during the dance segments. Dozens of brilliantly costumed dancers silently retold ancient myths—from inside Chinese palaces to the heavens above. Each segment contained a moral that felt fresh, even though its roots reach as far back as 5,000 years.
“I’m literally blown away,” Rattray said. “There was so many different elements of the show—visually, it was absolutely inspirational. I thought that a lot of the choreography was absolutely beautiful.”
Rattray-O‘Hare, who directs and teaches musical theater, said one of her main draws to see Shen Yun was to learn and pass down inspiration to her students. “I’m currently directing a musical, and every time something was coming through [onstage], I was like, ’Oh my goodness, I could use that. I could do this,’” she said.
Inspiration. That’s one of New York-based Shen Yun’s major reasons for being. Now 20 years old, the New York-based dance company was first formed to revive China’s ancient culture—almost lost during decades of communist rule—and to inspire those values and spirituality in new generations.
Besides classical Chinese dance, Shen Yun tours with a full orchestra that blends Western and ancient Chinese instruments for a unique sound.
“The orchestra ... it literally took my breath away,” Rattray said.
Shen Yun was “literally like you have a dream,” she added. “That’s what you see in your dream, right? Floaty, happy, pretty. However, it had a meaning, it had depth, and it had a message, and that’s what theater is about—having a message.”
Shen Yun Performing Arts' curtain call at the SEC Armadillo in Glasgow, Scotland, on Feb. 6. Roger Luo/The Epoch Times
Rita Sharp, who studied ballet when she was young and is now a retired typist, watched the same performance and also noted the dancers’ dreamy, floaty quality. “It’s as if they were on wheels. That’s what I said to my daughter,” she told The Epoch Times. “Even their faces, they’re all smiley and—oh, it’s just lovely!”
The Shen Yun website explains, “ In spite of their differences, though, both ballet and classical Chinese dance have the ability to vividly tell stories and move us through beautiful art.”
Frances Jane Sharp, who works in special care, enjoyed watching the dancers, who were “so graceful and so quick and light on their feet—you can see them moving as one,” she said.
Audience members often see passion in Shen Yun’s artists—probably because they’re all on spiritual missions of their own. Many performers in Shen Yun are Falun Dafa believers who are spreading their cherished values to a worldwide audience. Some even faced religious persecution in China and so fled to America.
Now, in Shen Yun, they’re living what they believe.
Besides spirituality, Shen Yun’s cultural mission extends to dance. Its dancers train relentlessly to reach perfection in what’s called classical Chinese dance. This dance style’s origins go back to dances in ancient imperial palaces and folk traditions that were passed down.
