Shen Yun’s curtain call in Nantes’s Cité des Congrès on April 3, 2023. (The Epoch Times)
NANTES, France—On Monday, April 3, for the second time this year, the city of the Dukes of Brittany welcomed New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts, the famous classical Chinese dance and music company.
Paul Sancho, a young dancer, came to discover classical Chinese dance and experience Shen Yun at the Cité des Congrès.
“I thought they were absolutely fantastic! All the dancers are really well synchronized. You can tell there is a tremendous amount of work that went into this show, as well as the costumes, which are fabulous. The draping of the costumes on the girls is exceptional. I really enjoyed it!” he said.
Paul Sancho attended Shen Yun in Nantes, France, on April 3, 2023. (NTD)
“I was surprised—I was bewitched by the stories they were telling. It was a bit like being in a bubble where you forget you’re in a theater and you’re really with them ... It was quite exceptional!” said Mr. Sancho.
As a dancer, Mr. Sancho felt classical Chinese dance “is very complete because there is as much acrobatics as there is a technique that you could equate to ballet ... They are strong, they are flexible, and so it looks like it’s easy!”
The ancient art form is, indeed, alongside ballet, one of the most comprehensive dance forms in the world. During the performance, the audience learns from the emcees that the tumbling techniques seen in classical Chinese dance inspired later sports like gymnastics and acrobatics.
Mr. Sancho was also very sensitive to the harmony created between the two arts of dance and music. “When you pay attention to the dance and the music, they are extremely compatible. It’s extremely well done, it’s very expressive, as much by the music as by the costumes and by the dancers’ movements. I think it’s a very expressive blend.”
Shen Yun means “the beauty of divine dancing beings,” paying tribute to the Chinese tradition. Indeed, China was once called the “Land of the Divine” because the ancient Chinese believed that their culture was inherited from the divine.
“You can say that the divine was there in the sense the dances are very aerial. Sometimes you could think you’re in a dream, almost ... It seems superhuman; it’s on the order of the unreal, almost!” Mr. Sancho said.
Mr. Sancho was particularly able to feel the emotions and feelings of the dancers.
“There is a certain culture of respect of the artist for the public and for the art he defends. We can feel it enormously. I think it’s a beautiful life lesson to be able to incorporate this notion of respect that is present throughout the show.”
The values of courage, perseverance, or loyalty conveyed in Shen Yun’s performance are “a touch of hope” for the dancer, who believes “we can apply these values to everyday life and perhaps the world would be simpler today!”
“These are beautiful values to protect ... even if they are essential and seem simple ... they are essential to us!”
The show’s program says, “In the past, artists looked to the divine for inspiration. They would meditate and seek virtue. They believed that to create art that uplifts, they must first cultivate goodness. Today, Shen Yun’s artists follow this noble tradition. Their source of inspiration is the spiritual discipline known as Falun Dafa. Rooted in traditional Chinese culture, Falun Dafa incorporates meditation exercises and teachings of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.”
Mr. Sancho could feel these principles from the artists: “We feel a kind of internal appeasement that comes out and gives a very serene, very controlled, and very beautiful touch!”
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