TORONTO—Shen Yun Performing Arts delighted many audience members from the artistic community at the Sony Centre on Saturday evening. Among them was Lowenna Clarke, a young dancer who specializes in Russian method ballet.
Only 15 years old, Ms. Clarke has already danced for 10 or 11 years, she said.
“It’s beautiful. I’ve always loved the Chinese culture, so just to see the dance—it’s so graceful, so lovely, so beautiful,” she said of the classical Chinese dance and music performance.
“It’s technically challenging as well, but they make it look effortless. It’s beautiful to watch and it never gets boring,” she added, praising the dancers for their skill in performing the many difficult movements in classical Chinese dance with ease, such as flips and tumbling techniques.
A dance that stood out for Ms. Clarke was Lotuses in Bloom, a dreamlike piece in which female dancers holding long, silken fans glide across the stage and rise above all flowers to emerge high amid the clouds, as described in the program book.
“I really admire the dancers, how graceful they were and how beautifully they mimicked the lotus flower with their fans, and how they handled their fans,” said Ms. Clarke.
“It was really well done, and sort of surreal—very nice.”
She noted that the hand gestures were very beautiful.
“It is very different from the classical ballet that I know, but it is Chinese culture. It’s very unique and exotic for me, but I love it,” she said.
She also admired the male dancers.
“They really showed their masculine strength, and it was really well done as well. You can see that it was challenging but they made it look so easy—it was beautiful,” Ms. Clarke said.
“As a ballet dancer, I know how challenging choreography can be. It was absolutely amazing to make every dance so unique and so special, and so beautiful for the audience to watch.”
She added that “it was absolutely wonderful” and that she drew inspiration from the performance.
“All the grace and beauty,” she said. “It’s really a special art form.”
Reporting by Cindy Chan
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun’s World Company will perform in Toronto until Jan. 26. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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.
