Dance Instructor: ‘Every single dance thrilled me’

KITCHENER-WATERLOO, Canada—With a sparkle in her eye and a big smile on her face, dance instructor Carmen Coburn emerged from the Shen Yun Performing Arts show she attended at Centre in the Square an inspired woman.

“This show is worth $500, easy. Everyone should see it. I give it an ‘F’ for fantastic, ‘A’ for awesome, ‘B’ beautiful, ‘C’ creative, ‘D’ divine, ‘E’ more than entertaining—it’s educational, it’s enlightening,” she said after seeing the show on Wednesday night.

“I’m just blown away. There are not enough awesome adjectives to describe it.”

Ms. Coburn has enjoyed a long career in dance, teaching a range of styles from ballet to interpretive and lyrical dance. Currently she teaches both folk and line dance in Kitchener.

She was very surprised to find out, through the show, that many Western-style dances originate from classical Chinese dance, passed down through China’s rich 5,000-year history.

“This was absolutely educational, because I didn’t know some of the choreography originates in China; we think sometimes it’s Western. But it’s Chinese influence and a beautiful one,” she said.

With the mission of reviving traditional Chinese culture, New York-based Shen Yun features stories from ancient China to today, told through the medium of classical Chinese dance and folk dance.

The company is composed of top overseas Chinese performers, many of whom have won international dance and music competitions.

Ms. Coburn said Shen Yun’s dances were fascinating and that the performers extremely talented.

“Every single dance thrilled me. It was very exciting to watch. My eyes were glued on the dancers all the time. It was amazing,” she said.

As a veteran dance instructor, Ms. Coburn was deeply impressed by Shen Yun’s choreography, which often features large group dances of up to 20 performers at once.

“The performers were absolutely exquisite. They are extremely talented. The costumes are fabulous, the choreography is spectacular,” she said.

She particularly appreciated the expressions of masculinity and femininity in the dances. According to traditional Chinese culture, men were celebrated for virtues such as strength and courage, and women for their gentleness and charm.

“I saw the strength … of the [male] dancers. For the women, they almost seemed to float by, and the use of the props with the scarves and the silk sleeves was just magnificent,” she said.

Although Shen Yun presents an all-new performance every year, Ms. Coburn said she could watch the same show again and again.

“The choreography is so well done that they wouldn’t have to change a thing. They wouldn’t need to change it. I could watch this a hundred times,” she said.

Along with story-based dance, Shen Yun features animated backdrops and an East-meets-West orchestra that aims to fully immerse audiences into the storylines.

Ms. Coburn said the digital, moving backdrops added an “other-worldly” quality to the performance.

“The backdrop, the video scenery was magical. It’s a magical experience,” she said.

Although Shen Yun travels to almost every corner of the globe, it still cannot be seen in China, where traditional values and arts forms have continued to face suppression under the Chinese communist regime.

During campaigns such as the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese Communist Party, seeking to use the arts to control the populace and breed Party loyalty, transformed performing arts into a propaganda tool.

“I find it very sad that this can’t be shown in China because it’s so artistic—the reality, the beauty of this performance,” she said.

“It’s sad to think that the oppression is there … heartbreaking.”

Reporting by NTD Television and Justina Wheale.

The Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company will now head to Toronto’s Sony Centre for the Performing Arts for a five-show run from Jan. 12 to 15, followed by another five-show run at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre from Jan. 19 to 22.

For more information, please visit www.shenyunperformingarts.org.