Spirit of Shaolin: Shen Yun Presents Buddhist Martial Arts

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@EpochArts
January 8–14, 2016
TheEpochTimes.com/EpochArts
SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS
Shen Yun Performing Arts
Spirit of Shaolin:
Shen Yun Presents
Buddhist
Martial Arts
By Leo Timm & Catherine Yang
Epoch Times Staff
DREW ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES
I
t’s the stuff of kung fu legends.
Heroic warrior-monks performing
gravity-defying leaps, sailing across a
river on a single reed stalk, and flying
out from the forests of Mount Song to fight off
bandits.
The Shaolin Temple is a storied fixture in Chinese history, one that has made its way as far as
Hollywood and Olympic sports. It’s the home
of Zen Buddhism, and also martial arts.
There is a Chinese saying: “The best kung fu
in the land comes from the Shaolin Temple.”
And the Shaolin monks have been the custodians of an innovative and iconic martial arts
tradition for well over a thousand years.
While it might appear that there is a contradiction between Buddhist pacifism and the
mastery of martial arts, the traditional Chinese belief is that the most superior martial
arts (and, by extension, military strategies)
are not ultimately about fighting, but rather
discipline, and ultimately peace.
In fact, many of the movements that appear
in Chinese martial arts were also expressed
in dance.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in upstate
New York, pays homage to this link between
classical Chinese dance and martial arts in its
pieces depicting the Buddhist monks of the
Shaolin Temple.
Shen Yun, which features authentic classical Chinese dance accompanied by powerful
orchestral music, brings the arts and tales of
Shaolin to life, with a lighthearted and humorous twist.
Meet the Monks
Who ever heard of Buddhist monks eating
meat?
Back in 621, the Tang Dynasty ruler Taizong
was surrounded by powerful rebel forces, but
came out on top with the aid of 13 Shaolin
monks.
During the 2013 season, Shen Yun told this
story in the dance “When Shaolin Monks
Protect the Emperor.” After the victory, the
emperor, forever grateful for their contribution, dubbed the temple “No. 1 under Heaven,”
and allowed the temple special permission to
maintain arms and fighting forces.
He also allowed the monks to eat meat. It’s
a little known fact that this does not contradict the original Buddhist teachings, which
do not specifically require a vegetarian diet.
According to the teachings of Theravada Bud-
SEN.
CHARLES SCHUMER
recently sent Shen Yun
Performing Arts a letter
expressing his appreciation. He wrote, “On behalf
of all New Yorkers, I thank
you for continued dedication in preserving and
presenting ancient Chinese culture in such an
accessible and aweinspiring way.”
In addition to Schumer’s
letter, Shen Yun received
over 90 more greetings,
citations, or proclamations, including from Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand, 14 members of the U.S. House
of Representatives, 56
New York State senators
or assembly members,
11 New York City Council members, and 11 officials from other New York
municipalities.
Shen Yun
Performing Arts
Lincoln Center
David H. Koch Theater
Tickets
Online:
ShenYun.com/NYC
Hotline:
800-818-2393
Running Time
2 hours, 15 minutes
(one intermission)
Date & Time
Jan. 14 & 15 at 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 16 at 2:30 p.m.
& 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m.
dhism, the Buddha allowed his monks to eat
pork, chicken, and fish if the monk was aware
that the animal was not killed on his behalf.
It was one of the most humorous pieces of
the season, and captured the imagination of
adults and children alike.
“It’s like going to another world,” said Satish Adige, head of mergers and acquisition at
Time Warner Cable, after seeing a performance
at Lincoln Center. “There is humor in some of
them.”
“The modern, as well as ancient, it was everything, so it was really good and really interesting too,” Ms. Adige said. “It was phenomenal.”
In another piece, “Mighty Monk,” a misfit
monk at Shaolin gains divine power through
his pious faith. This strength allows him to
fend off a gang of bandits bent on robbing the
temple.
Then there is Lu Zhishen, one of the main
characters of the classic Chinese novel “Outlaws of the Marsh.” During one season, Shen
Yun told the story of this good-bad monk, a
brash giant with a sense of justice and a knack
for getting into trouble. During another season it was the story of monk Ji Gong, a bit of
an eccentric, who uses his supernormal abilities to save a town.
Fighting, staff-wielding, and lavish choreography are what typically define kung fu, but
Shen Yun portrays the arts of Shaolin while
paying attention to the unique context of these
characters in the stories.
Martial Arts and Dance
When Chinese martial arts first appeared in
ancient times, its flips and movements were
intended for battle. But an aesthetic edge,
more suited for the performing arts, developed alongside these combat techniques. In
time, martial arts and classical Chinese entertainment forms, including Chinese opera and
dance, grew into related but independent sys-
tems practiced today.
While martial arts movements are quick,
forceful, and economical, their dance counterparts are just slow enough for the audience
to appreciate the subtleties, elongated for elegance, and the dancers seem to land without
a sound.
“They make many, many difficult moves look
extremely easy,” said Gary Kukac, a Hawaii
Pacific University lecturer and a student of
martial arts for 14 years. “It’s just something
that everybody should experience at least
once.”
“I was very impressed. This is very impressive,” said Ford Edwards, a martial arts instructor who teaches Northern Shaolin, kung fu, chi
kung, and Tai Chi Chuan, after seeing a performance in Escondido, California.
In Thousand Oaks, California, Emmy Awardwinning actor Craig T. Nelson and his wife
Doria Cook-Nelson, a tai chi master, were
deeply moved by Shen Yun’s performance.
“Obviously they have worked so hard at what
they do, and it shows. It just comes across as
effortless, beautiful, elegant, and very moving,
down to the tiniest gesture. Just down to the
tips of the fingers,” Mr. Nelson said.
“The movements look so simple, but the
dancers’ lives are dedicated to making those
moves,” Mrs. Cook-Nelson said.
Classical Chinese dance is an independent
dance system with hundreds of movements
and postures. Its uniqueness lies in its focus
on inner spirit (“yun”), which allows the dancers to convey a wide range of emotions and an
array of characters.
So with classical Chinese dance, you can portray almost anything, whether it be happiness,
beauty, compassion, or peace—the same peace
that the Shaolin monks sought through their
martial arts. And be it through drama, adventure, or humor, Shen Yun does it like no other
performance, and in unexpected ways.
The Classics: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Director John Langs: Classic Themes and Forms Have Undeniable Power
By Sharon Kilarski | Epoch Times Staff
Practitioners involved with the classical arts
respond to why they think the texts, forms,
and methods of the classics are worth keeping and why they continue to look to the past
for that which inspires and speaks to us. For
the full series, see ept.ms/LookingAtClassics
For director John Langs, both the universal
themes of classic texts and the vehicle delivering the themes make them relevant; more
than relevant, they make them potent.
“A classic is a piece of writing that amplifies
an undeniable human truth,” Langs said in a
phone interview on Dec. 2. “They tell us who we
are, what we are, and they bring feelings alive
in us. They’ve done that for centuries,” he said.
Classics tell us about our history, and if we
stray too far from our own history, then as the
saying goes, we’ll be doomed to repeat our failures, according to Langs.
Langs used “An Iliad,” a modern work based
on Homer’s poem about the Trojan War, to
make his point. The play exposes the effects
of violence and war, the glory of battle, and
the despair of loss among families throughout a country and between brothers in arms.
“These are absolutes of human nature,” he said.
As a 17-year freelance director, Langs has
made his career working primarily in regional
theaters across the country. In 2011, he cocreated and directed the original musical “The
Shaggs,” which was nominated for Lucille Lortel
and Drama Desk awards. This coming Month,
he will officially take over as artistic director for
Seattle’s ACT—A Contemporary Theatre.
Potent in Form
For Langs, it’s not just the theme that is universal and deeply felt. The structure of classical plays has a delivery system that’s been
proven. He believes a well-made play connects with us consistently with an impact
that is undeniable, and in the most elegant
and elevated way.
Aristotle, considered the first theorist of
Western literature, believed that a tragedy
should take place in only one setting, happen during only one day, and have one storyline. He based his theory of unities on the
famous Greek play by Sophocles, “Oedipus
the King.”
Plays built along these lines are stripped of
extraneous plot and characters—hence their
power.
Langs considers some 20th century plays—
American works by Eugene O’Neill, Arthur
Miller, and Tennessee Williams—as classics because they possess these same qualities. Their themes are universal and their
structure, with rising tension along a single
action, hearkens back to the Greeks.
Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into
Night” follows this structure with tremendous impact, Langs says. As is clear from
the title, the play happens in one day. It all
takes place in a family home, and the action
revolves around the devastation to the family caused by addiction.
It is distilled and unrelenting. “Like peeling an onion, you’re getting closer and closer
to the power; you’re not let off the hook and
the intensity continues to build,” he said.
“I often cajole my playwriting students to
When I talk
to young
writers,
I tell them
that if they
want to be
remembered
in the future,
they should
think about
a classic
structure for
their works.
John Langs, director
go back to the structure of classic plays,” said
Langs, who also teaches budding playwrights
at the University of North Carolina School of
the Arts every year.
The way a playwright uses language is
another structural element that adds punch
to a play’s effect. The language of a classic play
is organically thematic. “Every line carries
the DNA of the whole.”
For this reason, the meaning seeps into listeners without their necessarily being aware
of it. For example, in “Romeo and Juliet”
Shakespeare employs 100 uses of the word
“haste.”
“All the action revolves around the passion and rapidity of young love. I doubt there
would be a play if the pace of the action were
slower,” Langs said. All the metaphors, every
image has a forward trajectory, and everything is rushing on to something or somewhere else. “If you dissect any line you will
find speed and haste.” Thus, for all the beauty
of young love, clearly the audience will feel
its foolhardiness too.
If the structure of a play is not well-crafted,
Langs doubts it would survive. Nor would it
retain its relevancy. The vehicle must be as
powerful as its subject matter.
“When I talk to young writers, I tell them
that if they want to be remembered in the
future, they should think about a classic
structure for their works,” Langs said.
If playwrights today, like their great 20th
century American predecessors, look to
the beginnings of Western theater for their
themes and play structure, they will tap into
mechanisms that work and endure.
Playful,
mischievous
monks from
Chinese
stories
appear in
many of
Shen Yun’s
dances,
defying
stereotypes.