Ballet Veterans Impressed by Classical Chinese Dance

“The unison is remarkable and it is very, very well-rehearsed and well-trained, and very, very flexible with lovely lines,” said Dianne Long, an artistic director and former dance school principal.
Ballet Veterans Impressed by Classical Chinese Dance
Dianne Long (4th L), artistic director at Perpetual Motion Youth Company and former principal of Cambridge Theatre Dance School, arranged for group tickets to bring the teachers and students of the school to see Shen Yun Performing Arts at Centre in the Square on Jan. 11. Among the group are ballet teacher Lily Petru (3rd R) and veteran dancer Emily Balaban (1st R). The Epoch Times
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<a><img class="size-large wp-image-1793706" title="Dancers" src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/Dancers.jpg" alt="Dianne Long (4th L), Lily Petru (3rd R), and Emily Balaban (1st R)" width="590" height="458"/></a>
Dianne Long (4th L), Lily Petru (3rd R), and Emily Balaban (1st R)

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, Canada—The warm praise from three ballet veterans offers an insightful glimpse into the calibre of performance the audience was treated to at the Shen Yun Performing Arts classical Chinese dance production at Centre in the Square on Wednesday night.

“The unison is remarkable and it is very, very well-rehearsed and well-trained, and very, very flexible with lovely lines,” said Dianne Long, a ballet instructor and choreographer who has been dancing for 28 years, remarked on the synchronicity of the dancers in the large-scale dances.

“Each dancer is able to create a beautiful line through their body, and the fact that the whole row of dancers was making that incredible beauty was wonderful.”

Ms. Long currently serves as artistic director at Perpetual Motion Youth Company, and for 27 years, until last August, was the principal of Cambridge Theatre Dance School, where she still teaches.

“It’s very creative. The costumes were beautiful, the costumes were lovely,” added Ms. Long.

After seeing a video of Shen Yun, Ms. Long was deeply impressed and arranged for group tickets to bring her school’s students and teachers to watch the performance as part of their learning and development of teaching practice.

New York-based Shen Yun tours the world every year with an all-new program of classical Chinese dance, Chinese ethnic and folk dance, and original songs and musical scores.

Its mission is to revive the traditional culture of China with its deep spiritual essence and moral values, all but lost today following decades of communist rule.