KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—During Shen Yun’s intermission on Jan. 7, Koura Wright glided through the Tennessee Theatre mezzanine with a friend, smiling and talking.
Ms. Wright is a dancer and dance teacher, who started her dance training in Maryville, Tenn. at Van Metre School of Dance, which is the official school of the Appalachian Ballet Company. Now she has returned to the same school as a teacher.
Ms. Wright was delighted by Shen Yun.
“I love it!” she said. “I think it’s great choreography; it’s real impressive. I’m blown away! I love it—yes, I love it.”
She recently danced with the Ithaca Ballet and attended The Ailey School summer intensive, according to the Van Metre School website.
She said she appreciated the artistry of the Shen Yun production. “I think it’s really beautiful choreography. It’s really creative. It’s lovely!”
The Shen Yun performance at Tennessee Theatre was the first time Ms. Wright had seen classical Chinese dance. It wowed her.
“Especially in the beginning piece, because I had never seen it before—with all the streamers—I was like, ‘Wow! This is awesome!’”
She was referring to Grand Descent of the Deities, in which “fairies twirl in gleaming skirts and silk sashes, while Buddhas watch on in serenity,” according to the program.
Some parts of the performance particularly moved her. “The one about the meditation, and people being persecuted, I thought it was really emotional. I felt like I was—maybe not going to cry, because I’m not in that mood right now, but I was definitely touched.”
The Steadfast Lotus tells a story of “the spiritual meditation discipline, also known as Falun Gong, whose practitioners have been persecuted in China for over a decade,” according to the program.
Ms. Wright also praised one of the all-male dances. “I like the one with the fans. Is that Tai Chi Flow? I think that was one of my favorite ones.”
She also commented on the women dancers. “I like the way the women, when they walk, they walk really fast, and their feet are flexed, and they have their arms all [she holds her arms aloft]. It looks so effortless.”
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun’s World Company will perform in Montreal until Jan. 9 before going on to Hamilton, Ontario. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
