LONDON, U.K.—Shen Yun performed at the Eventim Apollo on Feb. 2 to an appreciative house. In the audience was British dancer, director, choreographer, and actor, Wayne Sleep.
Once a dancer with the Royal Ballet, Mr. Sleep is well acquainted with classic ballet and said, “I know a lot of [dance] steps, but I didn’t realize they traditionally came from China.
“A lot of the steps of what we do, you know, the turning jumps and the extensions up here—I thought that was traditionally from Russian ballet. But we learned tonight that those jumps and turns originated in China hundreds of years ago, so that was very new,” he said.
“It was faultless. Where do they get all those people? All with such expressive movement, and when you just finish a line, like we do ... but when [they] finish a line, it almost ripples into the next movement, so it’s never still.”
Stories of Simplicity and Joy
Mr. Sleep spoke of the simplicity and purity of the stories told through Shen Yun’s dances. “I love the innocence of it like a child because I would imagine that China’s been sort of maintained and a lot of people didn’t get outside, so it’s protected the innocence,” he said.
The stories intrigued the renowned performer. “Well, I learned something tonight from traditional Chinese stories, and the innocence of going to heaven at the end. We are so cynical in the West. ... But to see it maintained and be brought around the world, it’s looking back hundreds of years ago.”
When the curtains opened, Mr. Sleep experienced an array of sensations. “Oh, Technicolor. It was like watching a movie. It’s like I’ve seen color for the first time because it’s so different than our color,” he said.
“It’s stunningly simple with the pinks and the yellows, and it’s just one color, and the silks, and everything. It’s different than what we have. I love Chinese watercolors ... I think we’ve gone to heaven as well.”
A Unique Backdrop
He liked how the dancers used the 3D backdrop as part of the performance. “We know what they do, and the cleverness of the set, going down onto the ground, and coming up as if you’re real. I’ve never seen that before. So it was wonderful, and it was so accurate.”The dances made the stories interesting and inventive. “I loved the characters better. I mean I loved the dancing. A lot of ballet companies might do something similar, but I loved the story. Everybody was allowed to be individual, even though they had to be absolutely together, and you don’t get that often,” Mr. Sleep said.
Maintaining one’s culture in a busy modern world can be a challenge, he said. “I think it’s very important to keep the culture you were born in, and that has been passed on to you over centuries and centuries.”
He spoke for maintaining Chinese culture as British culture is kept and there are similarities across different cultures. “We still have traditional folk dancing with the maypole and clog dancing, which is like tap dancing in this country. And you should never forget your roots, and hornpipes. I saw them coming forward like that.
“But it’s amazing how different cultures, although they’ve never seen other people’s cultures from the past, can be very similar. They think of the steps at the same time.”
He sent many kudos to the dancers. “Congratulations everybody. This audience should have been cheering from the start. [The theater] was packed and nobody left. I think the audience grew into it. They were there, and we went to meet them. I didn’t know what to expect. It’s simple but joyous. It brings you joy.”
