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Shen Yun’s Piotr Huang, On Bringing Back Traditional Values Through Dance

Piotr Huang. (Photo: Shen Yun Performing Arts)

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By ACCESSWIRE

January 14, 2025
4:00 pm
Los Angeles, CA

Breathtaking, self-disciplined and refined are just a few adjectives to describe Piotr Huang’s performances, which leave thousands of audiences in awe every time he steps on a stage. As a professional dancer of eight years and now leading one of the dancing crews of Shen Yun Performing Arts, Piotr has perfect control of every inch of his body, from the moment he leaps into the air to when he lands soundlessly back onto the floor. With a history of rigorous training and his determination to never give up, Piotr has set himself apart as one of the world’s best classical Chinese dancers. He is currently going on a world tour as a principal dancer for Shen Yun. Born in Poland, Piotr flew to the U.S. thirteen years ago to

With a history of rigorous training and his determination to never give up, Piotr has set himself apart as one of the world’s best classical Chinese dancers. He is currently going on a world tour as a principal dancer for Shen Yun.

Born in Poland, Piotr flew to the U.S. thirteen years ago to study classical Chinese dance at the prestigious Fei Tian Academy of the Arts in Upstate New York. This institution trains many of Shen Yun’s dancers, who offer nightly a rare glimpse into the fascinating world of traditional Chinese culture.

While at Fei Tan, Piotr progressed from being an amateur performer to a master. During his forging years in which he formed his craft, he was often given the unique opportunity to observe his senior company members dance in rehearsals, which deeply moved and inspired him. This feeling made him realize that the most difficult thing in dance wasn’t techniques, it was grasping and evoking the inner meaning of a dance and being able to share that with the audience.

While his dignified movements and explosive leaps make him stand out from the crowd, Piotr has developed a larger sense of meaning from his dancing. Five thousand years of knowledge, wisdom, and traditions is what motivates him. In his eyes, it’s more than just a love for dance – rather, he feels a sense of duty to share the exquisite customs, virtues, and spirituality of ancient China with global audiences.

Piotr offers an insight into the inner meaning of classical Chinese Dance and the importance of bringing back traditional values such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and honesty through his art.

According to Piotr, dance is an important way to tell people about your culture. Not only does it offer others knowledge about your traditions and norms, but it also allows them to appreciate and better understand you and your culture. All cultures should share via their traditional dance.

“As part of the new generation who grew up in the West, we don’t have that deep of an understanding of Chinese culture. So our dancing is relatively straightforward. The inner meaning is not as profound. When you understand the habits or values of people from ancient China, the feelings evoked by your dancing are not the same,” Piotr said.

As a performer, Piotr understands that dance that expresses culture is different from celebratory dance. This is because for cultural dance, you have to first understand the tradition behind it in order to then master the heart and soul one needs to put into the performance. The beautiful part about the classical Chinese dance that Shen Yun offers is that it emphasizes inner bearing. This is the inner spirit of a person, almost a cultural DNA that is passed down through thousands of years. Each person’s inner bearing is unique, and this is what allows the dancers to tell the story of Chinese culture in a beautiful and inspiring way.

“For example, if I do a simple movement, it’s just what it is…a move,” said Piotr. “However, if I put my spirit and thoughts behind the move, it feels completely different.”

By immersing himself fully in the tradition and practices of ancient China, Piotr has been able to understand the concept of inner bearing and discover more about himself. His Polish-Chinese identity has taken on a whole new meaning.

Although Piotr is ethnically Chinese, he didn’t speak the language fully before and knew little about Chinese culture. So at Fei Tian, he honed his Chinese and immersed himself in the philosophies of sages like Confucius, who believed in virtuous conduct and self-cultivation. The more he studied, the deeper his love grew for both his cultural heritage and for dance. Soon he was selected to tour in practicum with Shen Yun, beginning a brilliant new chapter in his life.

For each historical figure he plays in Shen Yun’s performances, Piotr pours over the character’s life story and works written about him to understand every stage of the character’s life. As he continues to tour with Shen Yun, he revels in each new opportunity to bring Shen Yun’s splendor to audiences around the globe and to uplift them with a message of hope, goodness and spiritual elevation.

SOURCE: Shen Yun

Source:ACCESSWIRE