Pingping Yu: Shen Yun Performing ArtsEden Prairie A.M. Rotary’s program on Jan. 14 had Pingping Yu talking about how the touring Shen Yun music and dance program coming to Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul on Feb. 20-23 is preserving ancient Chinese culture at a time when China’s leadership over the last 70 years has erased much of it. A community outreach volunteer for Shen Yun, she explained that the organization is a 14-year-old nonprofit that started in New York that now has seven touring companies performing in 150-plus cities and reaching more than 1 million viewers per season. Shen Yun is known for the colorful and athletic dance numbers that present traditional Chinese culture over 5,000 years – a period during which China had 25 dynasties and 800-plus emperors. Yu says the performances to music provided by a live orchestra serve to remind viewers of China’s ancient belief in Dao and Tao, also referred to “the path” and “the way” to enlightenment and connection to ancestors in higher spiritual realms. |