TORONTO—Karen Davies Thomas is a ballet teacher with two dance schools, so when she saw the talent and passion of the Shen Yun Performing Arts dancers on stage, she was filled with appreciation.
“Their grace is magnificent,” Ms. Davies Thomas said at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts the afternoon of March 30.
She felt the dancers were gliding across the stage as if they were floating or on ice. Ms. Davies Thomas said she was well familiar with what it takes to execute such grace, having danced and
taught on pointe and being able to attest to the hard work and stamina that went into the dance.
New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier
classical Chinese dance company and has grown to be a global phenomenon since its inception in 2006.
Classical Chinese dance is a famously expressive art form with roots thousands of years deep.
Ms. Davies Thomas said the artists on stage certainly brought out that
expression through their body language.
“It’s like a glimmer of light,” she said. “The expression on their faces as well is beautiful. And I really appreciate that, as an artist, they really give all of their passion and their breath into their movements.”
“[It’s] wonderful to see it coming from the passion of their heart and their souls into the ends of their fingers, and it goes right up with their eye line. ... [It’s] really delicate and amazing,” she added.
Ms. Davies Thomas said she noticed the use of
costumes and props that required the dancers to wield the pieces like extensions of their limbs. For example, some dances featured costumes with long sleeves the dancers might catch and release in the air to beautiful effect. And in another dance, beautiful fans were representative of flowers.
Ms. Davies Thomas said she was looking really carefully at the movements of their shoulder and hands to see how it was done, “and it was an extension of their arms and their alignment, so that was really beautiful.”
Also noteworthy was the sheer height the dancers, particularly the
male dancers, were able to reach and the graceful softness of their landing, especially given how high they were jumping, Ms. Davies Thomas said. She noticed the role of the hips in these technical feats’ achievement of height, and added that the delicate execution was “quite intense ..., which is really great.”
She also noted that
Shen Yun’s production included classical Chinese dance as well as several ethnic and folk dances that were different in style.
“I really love that and I love to understand all the differences in the Chinese culture,” she said. Coming from classical ballet, she encouraged other ballet dancers to attend Shen Yun, to see its different styles of dance and to broaden their understanding of dance.
“I would tell everybody to come to watch this performance,” she said.
With reporting by NTD.
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