Tag: Shen Yun Performing Arts

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An American Dream, Full of Gratitude

Angelia Wang has been a principal dancer with Shen Yun Performing Arts for more than a decade. (Larry Dye)

Deep in the woodlands of upstate New York, in the early 2000s, a group of elite artists who had escaped persecution in China began building their dream. There, in a patch of mud and dirt, they laid the foundations of a cultural renaissance: a revival of traditional Chinese culture and true classical Chinese dance—an ancient art form displaced, like them, from its home and nearly lost at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. They knew that this precious art, and its values of goodness and hope, needed to be shared with the world.

Today, Shen Yun Performing Arts is one of the world’s top dance companies. Its eight troupes tour 200 cities across five continents, performing for more than 1 million audience members each year. On stage, lush silk costumes billow against backdrops of ancient palaces and heavenly gardens, reminiscent of Chinese landscape paintings, brought to life. Melodies from a live orchestra suffuse the scenes.

It’s difficult to imagine that it was all built from nothing. In the tough early years, “we had almost no money,” recalled Ying Chen, vice president of Shen Yun and an orchestra conductor. “Sometimes in the depths of winter, we had to rehearse in makeshift studios with very little heat. Much of the heavy lifting was done by volunteers—people who would work all week at a job, and then drive five hours to our campus to work the whole weekend.”

Through the sheer dedication and grit of its artists, staff, and volunteers, the company flourished. 

Principal dancer Angelia Wang embodies that selfless dedication. She was drawn to Shen Yun’s mission and joined in 2007, a year after its founding, during its humble beginnings. Little did she know how quickly she’d rise to the world stage. Now, she’s held her title for more than a decade, won multiple awards, and become a literal poster girl for the company—she’s often the model who appears on billboards across the country and globe. She’s also dance captain of her troupe, and an assistant professor of dance at Fei Tian College, an arts-focused institution in upstate New York where many Shen Yun artists train.

Wang demonstrates a variety of postures in classical Chinese dance. (Adhiraj Chakrabarti)

Gu Yuan, an accomplished choreographer at Shen Yun, said, “In my 40 years in the dance world, I have rarely encountered an artist who demonstrates such unwavering dedication and infectious positive energy.” 

Ask Wang the secrets to her continued reign at the top of her field, and she’ll reveal no grand ambitions of fame or stardom. She’s driven instead by gratitude. She cherishes the opportunity to bring the beautiful culture of her heritage to life on stage. “Shen Yun created this platform for artists who pursue their dreams, to be able to showcase this great culture and art form,” she said.

Wang was born in Xi’an, a city that was an ancient capital of China for thousands of years. From a young age, her grandmother made her memorize famous Chinese poems and works of Chinese literature. She didn’t fully understand their meaning at the time, but those texts often contained moral lessons and expounded on ancient rules of propriety—values that later became important for her to comprehend, as a dancer portraying exemplary characters from Chinese history. “This was like predestiny, like I was meant to do this. All that preparation was just for today,” she said.

After moving to America at age 14, Wang heard about Shen Yun. She’d attended a dance school briefly in China, but Shen Yun was her first introduction to classical Chinese dance. She was intrigued by this art form that came from her native country, but that she knew little about. 

Going back millennia to imperial courts, ancient plays, and folk performances, classical Chinese dance is an expressive art form with a rich history. Much of its core was lost in the Cultural Revolution, as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) set out to systematically destroy traditional Chinese culture. It’s impossible to find in its true form in modern-day China. 

The CCP’s machinations hit especially close to home for some founding members of Shen Yun. They fled China to escape the regime’s persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice based in Buddhist tradition that grew popular during the 1990s. Its guiding principles are truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Chen explained that Falun Gong’s spread represented “a return to traditional values and spirituality”—running directly counter to the atheist CCP. Launched in 1999, the persecution “not only sought to eliminate Falun Gong, [but] was also an attempt to destroy the last remnants of China’s authentic culture once and for all,” Chen said.

“In many ways, we are modern-day pilgrims,” she added. “Many of us arrived on America’s shores with nothing but our faith and each other.” Here, in a country “rooted in freedom and liberty, we could freely create Shen Yun on our own terms”—bringing the true essence of the culture to the world, she said.

That mission resonated deeply with Wang. She began training in classical Chinese dance, and in 2007, had the opportunity to tour with Shen Yun as part of a student practicum program. She’s been with the company ever since. Within a few years, she demonstrated her prowess by winning first place in the NTDTV International Classical Chinese Dance Competition’s junior division in 2009 and 2010, and first place in the adult division in 2012. 

She laments that Shen Yun’s performances can’t be seen in her homeland. But she’s grateful for her adoptive home. “Being able to use this art form, dance, to carry traditional Chinese values … I’m very thankful to America for giving us the platform to revive our own culture,” she said.

Culture of Excellence

Reflecting on her journey with Shen Yun, Wang recalled her early career. Their training facilities were more rudimentary, but the spirit of camaraderie was just as strong as it is today. “We bonded together like a big family,” she said. Outliers in the competitive world of professional dance, the artists fostered a culture of mutual support and excellence. 

Chen credits Shen Yun’s incredible growth to that unique company culture. “We forged a new kind of performing arts company where artistic excellence goes hand-in-hand with a spiritual life of meditation and moral living,” she said. She explained that in ancient China, it was common for artists to pursue spiritual self-improvement to elevate themselves in both skill and character.

(Larry Dye)

Shen Yun artists follow an old Chinese adage about artistry, Wang said: “Before you learn an art form, you should learn how to be a good person.” The characters she’s portrayed on stage have served as constant inspiration for how to do that. “Ancient people had the greatest wisdom,” offering lessons about kindness, integrity, and selflessness, she said.

To enrich her sense of artistry, Wang also enjoys drawing inspiration from doing Chinese calligraphy and reading Chinese poetry. (Larry Dye)

In 2018, she played the role of Wang Baochuan, a historical figure from ninth-century China, who faithfully waited 18 years for her husband to return home from war. Wang also admires Xi Shi, one of four women known as ancient China’s greatest beauties. As part of an elaborate plan, she was sent to an enemy state to make its king fall in love with her, all the while reporting back intelligence so that her kingdom could seize the right moment to invade and attack. “It wasn’t something that she wanted to do. She was not completely happy because she was such a kind person, and she felt that in the process, she hurt other people,” Wang said. Nevertheless, she chose to put her kingdom’s needs above her own. Wang channeled those layers of conflicted emotions while portraying Xi Shi during Shen Yun’s 2024 tour.

“Being able to speak with your body, and feel the emotions of different characters going through their lives just by dancing, it is a very magical feeling,” she said.

Off-stage, Wang embodies her characters’ selflessness in her roles mentoring junior dancers. She began as a teacher’s assistant at around age 19, and has been teaching on and off since then. Regarding challenges and obstacles, she tells them: “Don’t be scared of what you’re facing, and don’t look at a problem as too big. Just take the first step.”

As dance captain, she must constantly consider her troupe members’ emotions and needs, to ensure rehearsals and training sessions go smoothly. “This load of responsibility means that oftentimes, I have to put my own dance training as the last priority,” she said. It’s not an easy choice, given the rigorous demands of keeping her body in peak condition.

But she’s found it rewarding to guide a new generation of dancers. Being an instructor has also helped her realize some of her own weaknesses and improve upon them. “There’s a Chinese saying by an emperor that means you look at other people as a mirror to reflect yourself,” she said. “Everything happens for a reason, so anything you see, you can reflect on yourself and see if you can improve.”

Giving Back

Beyond her love for dance, Wang feels a responsibility toward audience members that drives her constant pursuit of excellence. She sees how the values conveyed through Shen Yun’s performances, though rooted in the Chinese tradition, resonate with people around the world. She recalls reading a heartfelt review from an audience member who thanked Shen Yun for making art with a deeper purpose. “’How do you evaluate kindness? How do you evaluate beauty? … We should cherish and appreciate the culture’s essence,’” Wang recalled him saying. “[That] ​​pushed me forward to craft my art better.”

It’s a sentiment the whole company shares, according to Chen. “We feel a tremendous responsibility to remind people of our common humanity, and the divine connection we all share,” she said. “We would like to show people that we all have a divine side, and by recognizing that and feeling that, our futures will be bright and filled with hope, regardless of how messy and difficult the world may be at times.”

Wang is at the top of her game, but she isn’t thinking about her own prestige or how her dance career will unfold. All she wants, she said, is to “bring warmth” to audiences. 

“In society nowadays, everything’s very fast-paced, and they choose to come to the theater and spend 2 1/2 hours just sitting there watching us,” she said. During those precious hours, “I wish to give as much as I can.”

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Features American Artists

A Transcendent Art Form: 3 Siblings Join a Cultural Renaissance Spearheaded by Shen Yun

(From L to R) Adam, Lillian, and Katherine Parker are unexpected ambassadors for a millennia-old Chinese art form. (Samira Bouaou)

A “white Mulan?” That’s weird, they bluntly told her.

Katherine Parker, an award-winning dancer with Shen Yun Performing Arts, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, recalled the first time that she portrayed a historical figure in a dance. For a local competition, she wanted to tell the story of Hua Mulan, the courageous heroine of one of ancient China’s best-known legends. Despite her reservations, she decided to press on.

As the legend goes, Mulan disguises herself as a man to go to war in place of her elderly father—thereby saving his life. By imperial decree, one man from every family had to serve.

She fights for 12 years on the frontlines. The dance meant to capture her thrilling moments on the battlefield—but more than that, to tap into an internal struggle. The fast-paced battle music gives way to a slower melody, and the audience gets a glimpse of Mulan’s thoughts.

“Throughout the piece, Mulan is simultaneously waging an inner battle,” Katherine explained. “She longs to return home to her father, but she must remain where she is and fight in a bloody war. The irony of her predicament is that she wishes to take care of her father more than anything, but for his sake, she cannot return to him. I feel this dance highlights Mulan’s filial piety and selflessness.”

dancing movement
Katherine does the “kong hou tui” move, which requires holding the back leg high. (Samira Bouaou)

Katherine knew that capturing that emotional complexity was crucial to the success of her performance.

“I generally tend to hold back, and automatically close myself off a bit when standing in front of an audience. Often, I doubt myself,” she said. “And the moment I hesitate, the performance falls to pieces, because I am no longer in character—I am just being my old self.”

To prepare, she repeatedly listened to the music in her free time.

“​​I would sit there with my eyes closed and visualize Mulan’s story playing out in my mind, in sync with the music. I would imagine the battlefield, the war cries, and the hoof beats of galloping horses. When the softer, sadder music began, I would focus more on Mulan’s emotions and the heart-wrenching sorrow of being separated from her father.”

The dance was a success: She won gold.

The following year, her growth became apparent on a grander stage. At NTD’s 10th International Classical Chinese Dance Competition in 2023, she portrayed another great Chinese heroine, Lady Wang Zhaojun, who chose to marry the leader of a northern nomadic tribe to prevent war, leaving behind her beloved homeland and family in an act of selfless sacrifice. For her moving performance, Katherine took home a silver medal.

classical Chinese Dance
Katherine won a silver medal in the junior division at the International Classical Chinese Dance Competition in 2023 for her dance piece portraying Wang Zhaojun, a historical figure in ancient China who married the leader of a nomadic tribe in order to prevent war from breaking out. (Larry Dye)

On the same stage that year, her older sister, Lillian, and younger brother, Adam, won silver and gold in their respective divisions. 

The secret to their triple win? The siblings point to years of honing not only their craft but also their moral character—the true key, they say, to artistic excellence of the highest level and a core tenet of this millennia-old art form.

Based in upstate New York, Shen Yun was established with a mission to revive 5,000 years of true, traditional Chinese culture, a glorious heritage that was nearly destroyed under communist rule. The company’s eight troupes tour internationally each year, and its elite performers hail from around the world—from America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. 

It’s a distinctly Chinese art form, but one that has resonated with people from all walks of life. Whether it be a daughter’s devotion to her father or a patriot’s sacrifice for country, the values portrayed are universal; its power to connect transcends boundaries. 

“Dance is a language without words,” Lillian said.

Foundations of Family and Faith

A uniquely expressive art form, with roots tracing back to martial arts and Chinese opera and theater, classical Chinese dance has the power to depict an endless spectrum of stories and emotions. The Parker siblings were captivated by it from a young age. 

Growing up in multicultural Toronto, Canada, their family made a tradition of seeing Shen Yun when it came to their city each year. 

“We would all get dressed up, and we’d be bouncing in our seats, waiting for the show to start, so excited,” Katherine recalled. “When the curtain opens, it’s just magnificent. It blew our tiny little minds.”

Their parents, Andrew and Christine Parker, signed them up for classical Chinese dance classes when Lillian was 6, Katherine 4 1/2, and Adam 3. 

“They had an interest in cultural dance, and they just loved it,” Andrew said. 

Such early immersion in the arts was part of his and his wife’s vision to “have a traditional lifestyle for the children,” Andrew said. 

“We wanted to fill them with as many wholesome and positive things that we could,” he said.

They sought out traditional values from different cultures, finding inspiration in the moral foundations of both Western and Chinese civilization, what “people in the past used to think of as virtuous, or good.”

“Honor, integrity, loyalty, honesty, good old-fashioned hard work, kindness—these were the things that we wanted to pass on to the children. These are what people traditionally refer to as the God-given values, or maybe in Chinese culture, they’d say the divinely bestowed values,” he said.  “I believe [these values] are what actually make people feel whole and feel good on the inside, not necessarily the modern values that are promoted nowadays.”

An avid student of the classical art of storytelling, Andrew regaled them with tales, one of Adam’s most vivid childhood memories. 

“Some parents might tell their kids stories to entertain them, but whenever [my dad] tells a story, there’s always a moral behind it,” Adam said. 

The whole family enjoyed music, so Andrew would often set his story to a tune—such as one of the “Star Wars” soundtracks—describing the action of a scene as it unfolded to the score. (“He watched the movies so many times, he memorized all the scenes,” Lillian explained.) 

Looking back, Lillian realized how that helped set an early foundation for her dancing career. 

“We’re hearing the storytelling, and the moral of the story, but at the same time, connecting with the emotions in the music … how the music is bringing out the emotion. Now, whenever I listen to music, I’m automatically thinking of dance moves, or a story or a character starts forming,” Lillian said.

Like their parents, the Parker siblings practice the Chinese spiritual discipline of Falun Dafa. Based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, with an emphasis on refining moral character, the practice fostered a harmonious family life—and set the foundation for a sort of rectitude and grit that would continue to drive the siblings beyond childhood. 

“It’s like the root—it shaped us a lot,” Lillian said.

At home, the siblings nurtured rich, creative lives, too. Aside from the occasional family movie night, their parents kept a screen-free house—no TV, no video games. As a result, the kids were naturally drawn to books, the arts, and other creative activities to fill their time. 

“​​I’m grateful to our parents for that,” Katherine reflected. “A lot of kids are in their own box with this technology, and it can really suck you in. Staying separate from that, we could learn.” 

They devoured books, from “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” to Nancy Drew and ”The Hardy Boys.” Lillian, an aspiring novelist, wrote stories of her own. They created their own clubs and crafted mailboxes out of cereal boxes to leave at each other’s doors.

Most memorably, they put on an annual Christmas show for a captive audience of parents, grandparents, and stuffed animals, complete with original dance choreography, music, lighting, costumes, tickets, a security guard (5-year-old Adam), and a rotating emcee. It was influenced, no doubt, by the format of a Shen Yun performance.

So while the Parkers had no expectations for their children to pursue Chinese dance professionally, it hardly came as a surprise when they did. When Lillian was 12, after watching the annual Shen Yun performance, there came an opportunity to audition for Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, which teaches classical Chinese dance, the primary art form of Shen Yun. She decided to try out, especially moved by how Shen Yun uses the art form to tell an important story on stage: the modern-day plight of her fellow Falun Dafa adherents in China amidst the brutal persecution of the faith by the ruling communist regime since 1999. Exposing the persecution is something that “no other performing arts companies are doing,” she said, “and that’s very meaningful. That’s not an opportunity you can find elsewhere.”

The family relocated to New York to support Lilian’s studies, and one by one, Katherine and Adam followed in their sister’s footsteps. 

“[Lillian] auditioned at the school and got in, and then [Katherine] did too,” Adam said, so the next step was only natural. “I mean, I had to try out,” he said, smiling. “Everything was preparing me for that moment.”

Dancing in Chinese 

Still, they were unprepared for other aspects, such as the rigors of classical dance training—with challenges understanding what their Chinese-speaking dance teachers were saying. 

Learning the language was just the beginning; trickier was parsing the hidden layers of meaning beneath the surface, due to cultural differences in communication styles and etiquette.

“Westerners are very direct—what I say, that’s what I mean,” Lillian said. Chinese people, on the other hand, place value on self-restraint and thus “always hold something back.” 

The differences spill over into the language of dance. She’s been told by dance teachers that her movements often look “very frank, very ‘Ba-bam! I’m here!’” she said. Classical Chinese dance, however, calls for a sort of restraint, a tension behind each move, a unique feeling built into the principles that underlie and define the art form. A hero character striking a pose facing the audience, for instance, would never hold his shoulders and hips square and stiff, but instead perhaps twist an opposite shoulder and hip toward one another, in a more dynamic stance. Or take the movement of bringing an arm up and over one’s head: Rather than straight and rigid, the movement would be rounded and pulled back at the edges, as if painting a rainbow with a brush, following the art form’s emphasis on roundness. 

“Every part of your body [has] that feeling, … to the point where it’s a look in your eyes,” Lillian said. “That’s what draws in an audience.”

They often lean on each other for support: At weekly “Parker Council” meetings, they swap videos of their practice sessions and advice for improvement. They found that they not only think and feel similarly, but also hit similar roadblocks in dance. One sibling could thus help another translate confusing feedback from a teacher, as Katherine put it with a smile, “into Parker language.”

male classical Chinese dance
Adam performs one of the many technically difficult flips found in classical Chinese dance. (Samira Bouaou)

Universal Values

A crucial component of their training takes place outside the dance studio, in the classroom: Students at Fei Tian study, among other subjects, Chinese history, its rich repertoire of stories and legends, to understand the values that form the foundation of the culture—and inform every movement of the art form. The Parkers found the same universal virtues they’d grown up with in Western culture—faith, loyalty, integrity, kindness—but embedded at a deeper level. 

“China’s had 5,000 years for those values to sink into the Chinese people’s hearts,” Adam said. 

To be able to experience and take part in reviving such a rich heritage is “just so precious,” Katherine said. What struck her most was how firmly so many figures in Chinese history held to their moral convictions.

“They’re going to do the thing that they believe is right, no matter what the consequences are. It’s part of who they are, so they will give up everything for it—even their life. And it wasn’t just one or two people, but the society as a whole,” she said.

On stage, they channel these ancient figures—whether a palace maiden, an imperial scholar, or Mulan on the battlefield. 

“One of the biggest changes for me as an artist was acquiring the ability to really get into character and feel whatever the character would be feeling,” Adam said. “There’s a saying we use in dance: ‘To move the audience, you have to first move yourself.’” 

Imbuing every movement with genuine emotion, “the audience will actually be able to feel it, even if they’re really far away,” he said. 

Being able to convey these values to the audience is key to capturing the essence of classical Chinese dance. Beyond the demanding technical skill required, to truly be a great dancer, “you have to be a good person,” Lillian said. “And then, you have to want to express or share those values through dance.”

Training in Chinese dance, like all the classical arts, inherently shapes dancers into better people, she pointed out, building self-discipline and the ability to persevere through physical and mental hardship. Maintaining the right mindset over the long run, always striving to be better without being discouraged, is one of the hardest parts, Lillian said.

A teacher once gave her a piece of advice that stuck with her: “Don’t be afraid of not being good. Just be afraid of not improving.” She resolved to focus on her potential to improve, on how much better she could get every day, “instead of being afraid of making mistakes.” She reminds herself: “Everything that’s hard is the root of something that will be great later—this is something that is going to make me into a better person or a better dancer. You see it as what it actually is—a tool to help you grow, even though it’s hard to go through.”

The siblings have also internalized lessons from the historical characters they’ve studied and portrayed. After they started their dance training, their father noticed profound changes in their character—most notably, that they had all grown more selfless. 

“They’ve truly benefited from these traditional values and ancient virtues from Chinese culture,” Andrew said, “and because they’ve benefited from it so much, they truly have a sincere wish to share it with others. I think this is one of the main reasons why they can work so hard. … It requires a very noble spirit and a very pure heart; otherwise, you just can’t endure that much rigorous work.”

Lillian sees their art as having a higher purpose. 

“Aristotle believed that one of the reasons people should learn music is to upgrade their moral values. By listening to good music, you’re learning how to enjoy something that is noble and something that is upright, and therefore, you are making yourself a better person,” she said.

Dance, she says, is the same. 

“You should be giving out upright energy; the message you’re sending to the audience should be a positive, upright message,” she said. 

She hopes audience members leave feeling uplifted and inspired to strive for goodness. 

For Katherine, it makes everything worth it in the end. 

“You know you’re doing something that’s just very special,” she said. “Not everybody gets the opportunity to be a part of something so remarkable.”

This article was originally published in American Essence, Vol. 4 Issue 1, Jan.-Feb. Edition.

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Features American Artists Arts & Letters

How Two Brothers Found Their American Dream Through Shen Yun

Brothers Lucas (L) and Jesse Browde at home in Upstate New York. (Samira Bouaou for American Essence)

The count was full, the bases loaded. Jesse Browde stepped out of the batter’s box, took a deep breath, and fixed his eyes on center field, like a hunter finding his mark. While his teammates were making a ruckus in the dugout, an eerie quiet fell over the parents on the bleachers. They were nervous—but curious.

Who was this kid?

Jesse had just moved to town the previous week, and since he was an unknown player in his first game with his new team, the Little League coach had slated him last in the lineup. No one knew what to expect.

He stepped into the batter’s box, tapped home plate, and settled his weight on his back foot. The opposing team’s pitcher was a big, strong kid. The late afternoon sun bore down on the side of his face, forcing him to squint in a way that made him look even more menacing. The next pitch came in fast, and a little high. Jesse stepped in, and with a quick pivot of his hips, he swung the bat. 

Crack!

The moment the ball hit his bat, he knew it: It was a laser to dead center field and cleared the fence by more than 20 feet. His teammates went bonkers, and the hush that had settled over the parents erupted into cheers.

Jesse rounded third base heading for home plate, where the entire team had gathered for the age-old ritual of helmet tapping and bear-hugging reserved only for home runs and walk-offs.

After that day, it didn’t take long for Jesse to settle into his new team. 

Jesse and Lucas grew up with a deep love for baseball, they played for a local Little League team and a travel baseball team. (Courtesy of Levi Browde)

These were happy times for Jesse and his younger brother, Lucas, who also played baseball. Their new school was great. Their baseball coaches were knowledgeable and dedicated. And despite the frequent protests of their Taiwanese mother, who fervently believed in home-cooked meals, their dad would often take them to Shake Shack or Five Guys after games.

Many burgers and fries were eaten.

At the time, Jesse and his brother felt that they were living the American dream. Later, they would come to realize that was only half true.

“As I grew older and learned more about our country’s founding, I came to realize that the American dream is not only about making a great life for oneself and one’s family,” Jesse said. “It’s about helping to build and create things that can be a force for good in the world and shared with others. It’s about giving back.”

For Jesse and Lucas, it wasn’t until years later when they joined the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company—Shen Yun Performing Arts—that they found their calling.

An Unexpected Path

At the Browde home, conversations at the dinner table often delved into American history—a subject the entire family is passionate about. (Samira Bouaou for American Essence)

Their parents, Levi and Vivian Browde, describe their sons’ upbringing as quintessentially American—Little League baseball; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Fourth of July with family; and discussions about American history around the dinner table. The family pored over biographies of America’s founders, spurred on by the family patriarch—Levi’s father is a professor who specializes in constitutional law.

Dance was never part of the conversation.

That all changed on a trip to New York City, when Jesse and his family saw a performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Its programs feature classical Chinese dance, a dynamic and expressive art form that’s thousands of years old. What captivated Jesse most, however, was the message of the performance. Drawing upon a wellspring of legends and stories from traditional Chinese culture, Shen Yun performances showcase timeless themes such as loyalty, compassion, resilience, and faith.

“While they take the form of Chinese stories,” Levi said, “these themes are quite universal and not so different from the stories we discuss around the dinner table. The resilience of Washington and his men at Valley Forge, the loyalty of Lafayette, the faith of the pilgrims—these are values that resonate universally.”

For Jesse, the impact was immediate and profound.

“It wasn’t just the choreography or the message that was being conveyed that struck me. It was the passion of the two lead dancers I saw on stage that day,” Jesse said. “I remember very clearly, it was like, ‘That’s what I can do.’” 

The future is bright for these two young dancers. (Samira Bouaou for American Essence)

To the surprise of his parents, Jesse sought out an audition at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, the preparatory school for Shen Yun’s dancers. He had trained in tumbling and some fundamentals in classical Chinese dance for a few years, but the audition was still a long shot.

“I was conflicted,” Levi said. “I appreciated the kid having a dream, but at the same time, it felt like a quarterback from some backwater Division III school trying out for the New England Patriots. … He had a long way to go.”

Jesse’s mother, Vivian, was more specifically skeptical. She believed her son was too bulky from years of baseball and didn’t seem to have the lithe, flexible physique required for classical Chinese dance, and didn’t mince words in telling him so. “I just said I thought he was too old to start professional dance training—and too chubby,” Vivian said, with a laugh.

His parents weren’t the only skeptics. One of Jesse’s dance instructors initially gave him similar feedback, saying he was likely too old and inflexible to ever become an elite dancer.

But Jesse was determined.

“He had that look in his eye,” Levi recalled, “the same one he used to have in the batter’s box when facing a dominant pitcher. Sometimes he wouldn’t even see the pitcher and just focused on the center field fence—where he wanted to go.”

Left: Jesse in the dance “The Immortal Poet” at the 10th NTD International Classical Chinese Dance Competition.
Right: Lucas took on the role of the famous Chinese general in “Loyalty of Yue Fei” at the same competition. (Larry Dye)

For the next several months, Jesse painstakingly trained his flexibility, constantly pushing his own limits. Sometimes, he recruited his parents to help him stretch or work on strength conditioning. 

“Up until that point, I had never really set my heart on anything in my life before. I never had that drive or passion to push my limits for anything before,” Jesse said.

A little more than a year later, Lucas had his own epiphany while watching Shen Yun. For him, however, it wasn’t due to any one particular dance or story, but rather to the effect the artists created. 

“There’s an energy to it, and you feel it when watching the show,” Lucas said. “It doesn’t just entertain people or even just teach about culture; it inspires morality in people and connects them with the divine. If people walk out of the theater with a new sense of virtuousness and faith, I feel this is the greatest gift you can give to people, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Practice, Practice, Practice

For the next several years, Jesse and Lucas were not only brothers; they were classmates, training partners, and confidants.

“Classical Chinese dance is not easy,” Lucas said. “With the rigorous training, you really have to develop camaraderie with your classmates to help each other through, and you also learn the importance of staying positive.”

 “On a typical day, we do three hours [of training] in the morning, a full load of academics, and I’m usually with friends in the training room for another three hours at night,” Jesse said. “And that’s only if there are no extra rehearsals. So, a minimum of six hours a day.”

Left: Jesse (L) and Lucas at a playground in New York City, early 2006.
Right: Young Lucas and his grandmother. (Courtesy of Levi Browde)

Despite the rigors of their training, or perhaps because of it, Lucas feels a great satisfaction with his life’s path. 

“Sure, at the end of the day, I’m often physically and mentally weary, sometimes literally crawling into bed. But those times are the most fun and give me the best memories and sense of satisfaction,” he said.

And despite the initial skepticism, years of hard work and an affinity for the millennia-old Chinese art form have paid off for both brothers. After winning a gold medal in the junior division of his academy’s dance competition, in 2020, Jesse was invited to join Shen Yun’s annual tour as part of a student practicum. Lucas, who also won gold in the same dance competition, was able to join his brother a year later.

The brothers’ success in such a short time period, however, is not unusual for Shen Yun’s training program. “It normally takes 10 or more years and a grueling schedule for someone to reach a world-class standard, which is why I was initially skeptical about the boys starting when they did,” Vivian said. “But, I have to admit: Shen Yun proved me wrong. They turned my slow, slightly chubby little baseball players into elite dancers. It’s remarkable.”

According to Levi, the success of Shen Yun’s training program is attributable to factors beyond just hard work and dedicated staff. “There’s a special sauce to the Shen Yun recipe that no one else has,” Levi said. “Shen Yun’s artistic director has infused the entire program with a foundation and know-how that had been essentially lost to history.” As an example, Levi points to the twin techniques of “shen dai shou” (the body leads the hands) and “kua dai tui” (the hips lead the legs). Often cited by international dance competition winners as the key ingredient to their success, Levi said these twin techniques have elevated Shen Yun performance art to a whole new level. “No one was even talking about them, let alone able to do them until Shen Yun burst onto the scene,” he added.

“The boys were very fortunate to find an institution that could take their heartfelt aspirations and provide a way to make them reality,” he said. “They are living their dream, and Shen Yun made it possible.”

Today, Jesse and Lucas—now both adults—share the stage together, traveling the world to perform. Yet, as audiences across the globe marvel at the Chinese art form that they exhibit, few may realize that it’s an American enterprise.

An American Company Showcasing Authentic Chinese Culture

Shen Yun Performing Arts was established in New York in 2006 with a mission to revive China’s 5,000 years of traditional culture.

Within a few years, Shen Yun’s shows were routinely sold out wherever they went. Today, the group has eight companies that tour the world simultaneously, performing in more than 200 cities across five continents each season. With groundbreaking innovations in digital stagecraft, the world’s first orchestra to feature both classical Chinese and Western instruments as permanent members, and storylines that draw from the rich tapestry of China’s 5,000-year history, the company quickly raised the bar on what a group of artists could accomplish.

The response from audiences around the world was immediate, and heartwarming.

 Lucas says one of the most inspiring things for him is watching the short interviews that people give after watching a Shen Yun performance. 

“Although it’s just a performance, you can tell by watching audience reviews that something very different and special happens at a Shen Yun show. It touches people,” he said. 

After seeing Shen Yun this past year, world-renowned author and life coach Tony Robbins said: “The stories are amazing, the execution and the dance is amazing. … I think this is beautiful because it’s keeping [Chinese culture] alive, and it’s sharing it with the world.” 

(Samira Bouaou for American Essence)

Actor and comedian Tim Allen, who also saw Shen Yun recently, concurred, saying, “I loved it … quite wonderful.”

For U.S. Brig. Gen. Hector Lopez, a former wartime chief of staff, seeing Shen Yun was transformative: “It was a very emotional experience. … It was not just entertaining, but at the same time, it has a message. I believe we become better people just by watching and witnessing this.”

But none of this could be done in China today. For decades, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has sought to eradicate traditions and impose communist ideology on the people. Because Shen Yun showcases authentic Chinese culture from before the rise of communism, and the CCP views that mission as a threat, the dance company cannot be based in China, nor travel there to perform. For more than a decade, the CCP has pressured theaters and local governments around the world to cancel Shen Yun’s shows.

With no safe haven to nurture authentic Chinese culture at home, elite classical Chinese dancers and musicians have turned their sights on America’s shores to establish Shen Yun.

“At first glance, it may seem strange to have a company here in America whose artistry and cultural foundations are more authentically Chinese than anything you can find in China today,” said Shujia Gong, an associate professor at Fei Tian College. “However, America has long been the place where great ideas grow into great enterprises.

“From the Magna Carta to Locke and Montesquieu, those great ideas unfolded in Europe long before the American Revolution, and yet it was in America where these ideas coalesced into a system of government that inspired freedom and democracy around the world. The Industrial Revolution started in England, and yet it was in America where the automobile, manned flight, as well as computers and the Internet really took off. 

“America was the ‘Great Experiment’ in self-governance, but it has also become the great incubator for industry, culture, and progress in general. So it’s not at all surprising that the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company is an American company.”

That idea isn’t lost on Jesse and Lucas. In fact, it’s a point of pride.

“It’s people from all around the world, America, Korea, Japan, Europe—we are from all over the place,” Lucas said. “People come to America to expand what it is they want to do, to make dreams happen.”

“These artists at Shen Yun are people who want to showcase the truth [of real Chinese culture], and they are from all around the world,” Jesse added.

(Samira Bouaou for American Essence)

A Foundation of Freedom, a Global Reach

With Shen Yun, Jesse and Lucas have traveled around the world, as the company routinely takes to the stage on five continents. This past season, their group ventured into new markets, performing 63 shows in eight European countries, as Shen Yun has become a phenomenon across the Atlantic in recent years.

While the experience has exposed the brothers to a broader range of peoples and cultures, it has also given them a newfound appreciation for America.

Recently, on a rare day off, Jesse and Lucas sat in their living room and reflected on this idea.

 “Being American is about contributing to our country in a way that allows many different opinions and perspectives to flourish,” Jesse said. “I draw strength and inspiration from knowing that I come from a country whose principles dictate that everyone should be treated as human beings blessed with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, no matter who they are.” 

“For me,” Lucas added, “it’s about embracing the liberty we have here that allows us to not only pursue our own happiness, but also have the freedom to share culture and ideas with others. In a way, it’s about having the strength to spread my wings beyond America’s borders. I feel confident and fulfilled traveling the world, partially because I know my home is in America—and that gives me a sense of a foundation to do so much.”

From Nov. Issue, Volume 3

Categories
Arts & Letters Features

An Artistic Mission

Johanna Schwaiger met Celine Ma, an instructor of classical Chinese dance, who became her model for a sculpture. (Lux Aeterna Photography)

Growing up in Salzburg, Austria, Johanna Schwaiger was constantly surrounded by beautiful art—from the city’s Baroque architecture to majestic fountains and public gardens. “I always thought the masters of these works were of a distant past, … had magical skills, and I thought if I could only learn a little bit of what they knew, I would be so happy,” she said.

Her father, an art teacher, taught her basic drawing and sculpting techniques. Working in clay gave her true joy. “It became my world to retreat to, whenever I felt I needed to escape somewhere, like Alice entering her wonderland,” she said. Today, Schwaiger has not only achieved her childhood dream of becoming a sculptor but also seeks to inspire the next generation of artists to create the kind of art that so moved her.

She came to the United States in 2017 to work with New Masters Academy, a subscription-based online tutorial platform for people to learn fine arts techniques. To begin with, she was invited to teach a sculpture tutorial on video. Today, she is the academy’s program director. Similar to Netflix, people can stream videos of creative artists teaching their crafts from around the world. Even top art schools and entertainment studios, including the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Ringling College of Art and Design, and the National Sculpture Society, have signed up for courses.

A Journey

It would take some time before Schwaiger could fulfill her passion for arts education. At age 15, she enrolled in a local school for sculptors. But while the school taught wood and stone carving, she wanted to learn traditional figurative sculpture, like that of the Renaissance masters, together with training in ink drawing, clay sculpting, and bronze casting. After graduating from high school, Schwaiger searched ateliers and schools in Salzburg, Vienna, and other nearby European cities, but none taught these techniques.

Some in the arts world told Schwaiger that realism had become a thing of the past, so she decided to train herself by studying the works of old masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Schwaiger also majored in art history at the University of Salzburg, and soon picked up commissions to paint portraits and sculpt figures for churches and graveyards, but she still felt a need for more schooling. At age 26, she discovered that the Florence Academy of Art in Italy taught the traditional curriculum. After completing her training there, she returned to her high school alma mater and began teaching a course in traditional figurative art.

Schwaiger was inspired by the grace and strength exhibited by artists of classical Chinese dance. (Lux Aeterna Photography)

Schwaiger has since made it her mission to continue the lineage of the classical art tradition, through New Masters Academy, education initiatives, and her private art studio. “I try to inspire the younger generation to hone their craft and really focus on the craft as much as possible—and make them understand that if you get strong in your craft, that’s how you become free in your expression,” she said in a recent interview held at Fei Tian College in Middletown, New York, where she taught a four-week summer sculpting class.

Now 38, Schwaiger taught her Fei Tian College students human anatomy and how to draw from a live model. To her, it’s about respecting the process pioneered by the great classical artists of the Western tradition. “You need to honor the past, what the ancestors learned and what they brought out. It’s basically taking the torch and bringing the torch further. That’s what I believe in,” said Schwaiger.

Inspired by the East

In her latest project, Schwaiger took inspiration from a different culture. Several years ago, she and her husband attended a performance by Shen Yun Performing Arts, the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company. Based in New York, the company seeks to revive the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization through dance and music. Classical Chinese dance, in particular, has a lineage tracing back to imperial courts and ancient plays. Schwaiger was touched not only by the storytelling but also by the technical prowess of the dancers. “I could see that this is the kind of excellence … that artists in the past were aiming for. And it’s really moving people’s hearts with beauty, and with excellent techniques,” she said.

Schwaiger thought of capturing through sculpture the grace and strength of the dancers she saw on stage. “What amazed me so much was the variety of dance poses that the dancers can do in sync, and so the whole choreography seems to be a language that is told on stage,” she said.

Through a mutual artist friend, Schwaiger recently met Celine Ma, a 22-year-old instructor of classical Chinese dance at Northern Academy of the Arts, a private middle and high school in Middletown, New York. Together, they thought of possible poses that the figure could take on, with Ma occasionally modeling the movements. At first, Schwaiger found it challenging to translate dance, a moving art form, into the still form of sculpture—especially conveying the light, airy movements of classical Chinese dancers. “It’s a moment in time that you’re capturing, and so the pose I picked is not a resting pose. It’s more like she’s like a flower blossoming into her pose,” said Schwaiger.

The Sculpture

One of the dancer’s legs is grounded, but the rest of her body is twisted toward the viewer. Meanwhile, her extended arm is gesturing toward the sky. “I was trying to think of how plants grow. That helped me to bring that grace into the piece … like how a flower opens its petals. That’s the image I tried to keep in mind as I was sculpting this,” said Schwaiger.

Schwaiger said that she envisioned a flower blossoming while making the sculpture. (Lux Aeterna Photography)

Ma said of the hand gesture: “It’s reaching high, like giving people hope and aiming for something brighter and higher.” She was not only impressed by Schwaiger’s dedication to artistry but also thrilled to see classical Chinese dance represented in another art form. “Dancers in the past—we don’t have a lot of documented footage, and a lot of techniques are lost because there’s no way that someone is passing [them] down through thousands of years,” Ma said, noting that it was thrilling to see “a sculpture that can be everlasting.”

Through working on the sculpture project, Ma also gained a newfound understanding of how Western and Eastern arts can complement each other. And through discussing the posture of the sculpture, she became more aware of the muscles she was using while dancing, and “the beauty of the human form.”

The Role of Art in Society

Ma trained in classical Chinese dance for seven years, learning the inner meanings behind the art form. She said that the training helped her to embody values that were appreciated in ancient Chinese culture, such as self-discipline, being willing to endure hardships, and having an optimistic outlook. To master the art form, “you really have to build these values within you, and it’s something that comes with your heart,” said Ma.

Schwaiger similarly believes that artists must cultivate good values in order to create something beautiful. “The artist very much has to immerse themself with the idea of beauty to communicate it to somebody else. And if the artist is thinking of the audience, wanting the audience to connect with that beauty, the person who is looking at the art is going to feel that. So that’s why I think art has such importance for society,” she said.

She also firmly believes that art has the power to elevate people. “If you’re looking at graceful things, powerful things, it’s naturally helping you to connect with these virtues. … It’s reminding people of these qualities that you should have in yourself,” she said. That’s why she hopes to one day create public art that can inspire through beauty—whether it’s sculpture in schools, hospitals, or public squares.

Schwaiger plans to cast her dancer sculpture in bronze next, using an ancient technique known as lost-wax casting, and she hopes the sculpture can be placed in a public setting one day. With art beautifying its surrounding environment, “you like to spend time there, you’d like to sit down and be there together with others, and you feel the other people that are present—and that’s very essential for our civilization,” she said.