PHILADELPHIA—Shen Yun Performing Arts enchanted the audience at Merriam Theater with its Friday evening performance, which ended with three curtain calls and a standing ovation.
“The dancers are wonderful,” said Joan Gmitter, a supervisory investigator with the government. “The way they can all dance as one person … is very impressive,” she added.
Many Shen Yun dancers are winners of international dance competitions and they perform classical Chinese dance, which has a history of thousands of years and encompasses elements from different eras, dynasties, and ethnic groups.
“Classical Chinese dance is a culture left to us by the ancients who came before us,” says Shen Yun’s website. “Its beauty should be riches shared by all of humanity.”
Ms. Gmitter relished the beauty of Lotus Leaves, a dance in which, according to Shen Yun’s program book, “the dancer’s unique full-circle fans sway like lily pads in the wind, evoking scenes of a flowering lotus garden in the summertime,”
“I like the lotus flowers with the fans, the round fans,” Ms. Gmitter said. “They were very beautiful.”
Another dance she enjoyed was Sleeves of Silk, in which long sleeves act as extensions of the dancer’s arms. “The effect is akin to fluttering wings or trailing ripples,” says Shen Yun’s program book.
Based in New York, Shen Yun was founded in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture, according to its website. Under Communist rule in China, the traditional culture—including a deep spiritual core of virtues such as kindness, wisdom, and sincerity—was nearly destroyed.
“It’s a good idea to share cultures,” said Ms. Gmitter. “[Western] people don’t know much about Chinese culture and Chinese dance, so it’s a good idea for us to share our cultures.”
Reporting by Sally Sun and Zack Stieber.
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at The Merriam Theater, in Philadelphia, through Jan. 8.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
