ATLANTA—An artist and dancer came to see Shen Yun Performing Arts, on March 8, at the Cobb Energy Centre. She brought an unusual depth of knowledge both about dance and Chinese culture. Jo Arrellanes recently graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta.
The audience often applauded during dances. People shouted and applauded for soprano Haolen Gen, asking her for an encore. At the end, audience members leaped to their feet for a standing ovation.
“I love it!” she said, smiling brilliantly.
She said she saw universal poses, like the grand plie of ballet, and “certain leaps that are across the board in African dance.” Classical Chinese dance, which is 5,000 years old, is the oldest dance form, from which martial arts, gymnastics, and other dance forms were born.
She said again that she loved it: “Yes, very much so, very much so, it’s a completely different philosophy behind the dance movements and everything like that, and I loved it because, you can see the universal poses that are through various different dance forms and different cultures, that’s from my background.”
Shen Yun New York Company performed classical Chinese dance as well as folk dance from the Yi ethnic group, a traditional Northeastern waist drum dance, a Mongolian dance, and more.
Miss Arrellanes said she noticed a unique energy or expression in the dancers. “Some poses would be harder and some softer but they have their own specific energy to it, that is so unique through all of it.”
She said she felt that the bearing and inner expression of the dancers was extraordinary: “ Yes, that’s exactly what makes this unique, that they keep everything controlled and delicate and refined and they’re never explosive to show off. They’re telling the story the entire time.”
The artist knows the classic Chinese works Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and more. This is unusual for a Westerner. She said “oh, I know these stories; I can actually follow these characters.”
But she said a person who did not have her background would find “it is a crash course in traditional Chinese culture in the best way for a modern audience because, it’s all visual. You don’t have to think about it too hard if you don’t want to. You can just experience it.”
She credited her Chinese college teacher, who she called “Professor Ping” with causing her to see Shen Yun. “The philosophy I see here is exactly what he was teaching us and we didn’t even realize it ... and that’s why we’re here for the show.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Atlanta will have two more shows, on March 9 and 10. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The audience often applauded during dances. People shouted and applauded for soprano Haolen Gen, asking her for an encore. At the end, audience members leaped to their feet for a standing ovation.
“I love it!” she said, smiling brilliantly.
She said she saw universal poses, like the grand plie of ballet, and “certain leaps that are across the board in African dance.” Classical Chinese dance, which is 5,000 years old, is the oldest dance form, from which martial arts, gymnastics, and other dance forms were born.
She said again that she loved it: “Yes, very much so, very much so, it’s a completely different philosophy behind the dance movements and everything like that, and I loved it because, you can see the universal poses that are through various different dance forms and different cultures, that’s from my background.”
Shen Yun New York Company performed classical Chinese dance as well as folk dance from the Yi ethnic group, a traditional Northeastern waist drum dance, a Mongolian dance, and more.
Miss Arrellanes said she noticed a unique energy or expression in the dancers. “Some poses would be harder and some softer but they have their own specific energy to it, that is so unique through all of it.”
She said she felt that the bearing and inner expression of the dancers was extraordinary: “ Yes, that’s exactly what makes this unique, that they keep everything controlled and delicate and refined and they’re never explosive to show off. They’re telling the story the entire time.”
The artist knows the classic Chinese works Journey to the West, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and more. This is unusual for a Westerner. She said “oh, I know these stories; I can actually follow these characters.”
But she said a person who did not have her background would find “it is a crash course in traditional Chinese culture in the best way for a modern audience because, it’s all visual. You don’t have to think about it too hard if you don’t want to. You can just experience it.”
She credited her Chinese college teacher, who she called “Professor Ping” with causing her to see Shen Yun. “The philosophy I see here is exactly what he was teaching us and we didn’t even realize it ... and that’s why we’re here for the show.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Atlanta will have two more shows, on March 9 and 10. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
