Chinese Classical Dance Shen Yun: Synthesis as a Way of Being

This article explores Shen Yun dance, one of the fundamental and most complex genres of Chinese classical dance. The concepts of “Chinese classical dance” and “Chinese classical dance Shen Yun” are clarified. The contemporary element is emphasized as a distinctive feature of Chinese classical dance. Its revival was achieved through reproduction and reconstruction, driven by the need to preserve national cultural heritage and the accumulation of vast choreographic experience, despite the lack of independent status for this art form. The article analyzes Shen Yun’s concept of “body rhyme” — the harmony of external expression and internal content — the basic principles of its embodiment, the philosophical foundation (dance as a symbolic embodiment of Tao), the primary choreographic techniques, the characteristic props, and the style of the costumes. Particular attention is paid to the synthetic nature of Shen Yun dance. Stage practices of Peking opera and Western ballet, as well as elements and principles of martial arts, are presented in the context of their specific significance in Chinese culture. It is emphasized that the diverse manifestations of choreographic synthesis in Shen Yun dance reflect the nation’s fundamental mentality — not to create, but to transform what exists. It is concluded that classical Chinese dance Shen Yun represents a synthesis of the choreographic aesthetics of ballet and Peking opera, including martial arts, adapted by the latter as the heir to ancient Chinese culture. Shen Yun is a blend of antiquity and modernity, of national and Western dance traditions.