Shen Yun ‘Fabulous,’ Business People Say

NEW YORK—As the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company comes back at the Lincoln Center in New York, Shen Yun Performing Arts’ show impressed audience members from the business field on June 24.

Several of them found Shen Yun’s handkerchief dance creative. “I never saw anything like that before,” said Lee Tardivel, who works in the clean tech industry.

“I loved the way the people came down from the backdrop and appeared on the stage. I thought it was very creative,“ he said.

Shen Yun features a high-tech digital backdrop that is used to create magical scenes, and in parts of the performance, is used to create the appearance of dancers stepping from the stage into the background itself.

“I think the background images versus the actual dancers were well done,” said Louis Ferro, who works in the commodities trading industry. “The choreography was striking.”

Ann Davlin, Senior Advisor at Carbon War Room, was moved by the performance. Carbon War Room is a non-profit organization dedicated to low-carbon or no-carbon initiatives.

“The stories that they tell, the dancers actually speak to you,” said Ms. Davlin.

The words Shen Yun translate as "the beauty of divine beings dancing," according the the Shen Yun website. The expression of the dancers goes well beyond surface manifestations, with the dancers expressing a deeper, "divine feeling."

Ms. Davlin was particularly struck by the piece titled Nymphs of the Sea, calling it “extraordinary.”

Chinese legends speak of deities from the seas that appear only before those who are pure in heart. In this piece, the nymphs dance among the waves; their playful, flowing forms soothe the soul and illuminate the seashore with an angelic grace.

Reporting by Pamela Tsai and Angela Wang.