FT. LAUDERDALE, Florida — On Dec. 26, Shen Yun Performing Arts kicked off its 2024 tour season with four performances at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Theatergoers were enchanted with the performers’ dazzling dance routines, vibrant costumes, gravity-defying acrobatics, and said they couldn’t get enough of the show’s breathtaking displays of art and music.
Founded in 2006, Shen Yun Performing Arts is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Based in New York, the company aims to revive 5,000 years of traditional culture and values through immersive performances — all while showcasing what China was like prior to the ravages of communist rule.
Made up of a large ensemble of elite artists comprising more than 500 dancers, musicians, and vocalists, Shen Yun currently has eight equally-sized companies that tour and perform across Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Oceania simultaneously; debuting a brand new production each year.
‘A piece of the Divine’
Sequoyah Burke-Combs, a painter and artist, shared with reporters that the performance was “heavenly” and how he was deeply moved by the spiritual elements interwoven throughout the show.
“I absolutely think they’re heavenly,” said Burke-Combs in regards to the dancers’ technique and vibrant costumes. “I think each color has a piece of the Divine in it. So it’s beautiful to see how they come out, and see what emotions interact with them as well.”
Success
You are now signed up for our newsletter
Success
Check your email to complete sign up
Shen Yun’s performances take audiences on a spellbinding journey through time and space by seamlessly blending classical Chinese dance, ethnic and folk dancing, ancient legends, and contemporary narratives.
Burke-Combs attended Shen Yun’s inaugural performance on Dec. 26 and said he appreciated learning about the hardships that many people in China endure today. “One of my favorite scenes thus far was the Falun Dafa scene [because] it gives us some cultural relativity of what’s happening in China at the moment, something happening worldwide, and it’s sad but also illuminating at the same time.”
Shen Yun’s performances aim not only to entertain, but also educate audiences on important social and political issues taking place in China today — providing a unique perspective on the human spirit and the importance of not taking certain freedoms for granted.
One of the show’s storylines illustrate the persecution of Falun Gong adherents in China. Falun Dafa, (法輪大法) also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice that combines meditation exercises with a moral philosophy based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance (真善忍).
After becoming widely popular in China in the 1990s — with millions of people, including high-ranking government officials taking up the practice — the communist authorities launched a brutal persecution campaign of its estimated 100 million practitioners in July 1999.
Burke-Combs also said he “absolutely loved the colors — just the range and the colors and the composition. It’s just beautiful how they all interact, especially seasonality and topographically as well.”
“I absolutely love the spiritual components of it — the idea of individuals or beings being sent here to help us from heaven,” he said, adding, “I think something is still happening very much today.”
‘The Divine moves through them’
Burke-Combs also attended the performance with his friend Liz, a professional dancer. Liz told reporters that she was deeply moved by the performers’ graceful movements and dazzling displays of art and technique.
“It’s really beautiful,” said Liz, adding, “With the Divine, you can really see it move through [the dancers] on stage and show through their movements. And it’s really beautiful to watch. I was very emotional throughout the whole performance.”
Liz said she was also impressed with the dancers and the many years of training and practice it takes to achieve such a high level of technique. “I loved it — the color, the beauty. I loved seeing the female dancers and their displays of grace as they’re dancing. And with the men, too, you can just tell how much training and devotion has just gone into their practice.”
‘We are all one’
Ariel Ortega, another member who attended Shen Yun’s performance on Dec. 26, told reporters that the show was “amazing” and that every aspect was incredible. He said the show also reminded him of how connected we all and how every being has a Divine side waiting to be awakened.
“The way the choreography was on point in every single aspect was amazing,” said Ortega, adding, “I almost forget that the orchestra was actually performing live. It was so amazing how incorporated it is. I have to look down to realize that someone is actually playing live.”
Shen Yun’s award-winning dancers and acrobats are accompanied by a live orchestra that blends classical Western and Chinese instruments to create a unique and harmonious soundscape to take audience members on a spellbinding journey through space and time.
The orchestra features many traditional Chinese instruments including the erhu, a two-string instrument from ancient China that can represent a wide range of emotions and musical tones, and the pipa, a four-stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body that offers a deeply expressive sound ranging from delicate and lyrical to bright and percussive.
“So that was very spectacular,” said Ortega, adding, “The individual instruments that were played were spectacular and just the combination of the world religion coming together between East and West, that was for me the most touching part. We are all one, same thing, one world, different land. So I think that was the most captivating thing for me.”
Ortega, who works as a professional artist and sculptor, shared that he was also deeply moved by the meaning of Shen Yun, which translates to the beauty of divine beings dancing.
“I can see that it’s the dance, like the word ‘yun’ the last word of the whole project. I can see the inspiration of the spirit flowing through the [dancers’] bodies. Like everyone flows but they’re letting themselves get carried by the spirit in the dance, but it’s a more refined dance.”
Shen Yun will perform in Fort Lauderdale through Dec. 28.
For more information on the performing arts troupe, including FAQs, upcoming performances, and ticketing information, please visit the official website here.
