Shen Yun’s Jisung Kim Seeks to Tell Timeless Stories Through Universal Art
The speed at which Shen Yun Performing Arts catapulted to world renown since stepping onto the performing arts scene in 2006 has sparked worldwide interest. Perhaps one of the reasons for its steady success is that New York-based Shen Yun is composed of serious artists, the kind who see this not just as a craft, but dedicate their lives to reaching the infinite heights of a form of art, and sharing it with the world.
For Jisung Kim, a classical Chinese dancer who has been with Shen Yun since 2013 and budding choreographer whose work this year has received tremendous feedback from audiences, it all begins with reverence.
“All talent is given by the divine, and inspiration, too, by definition comes from the divine,” Kim said. What are muses, if not messengers of heaven? he asked, referencing a long line of works and artists that pay respect to the divine. It’s true that in classical cultures both East and West, art was for the veneration of God, and Shen Yun overtly states it seeks to follow in this tradition.
“And when you have that reverence, you can be humble, and see the bigger picture,” he said. Kim believes that with humility and hard work, blessings follow, as his own artistic journey shows.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, founded in 2006, is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and has a mission to revive 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
“I watched Shen Yun when I was very young, maybe in 2006 or 2007. I was mesmerized,” he said. Moved by the ancient legends, heroes, and divine beings, he turned to his mother and said he would join them one day. Half a dozen years later, he did.
Driven by a determination so strong that Kim, who is Korean, flew halfway across the world to a bilingual school—Fei Tian Academy of the Arts uses both English and Chinese—where he spoke neither language, even before his acceptance was finalized, he overcame what he describes as a painfully crippling case of social anxiety in order to become the performer he knew he was meant to be.
“I feel like this is my life’s mission,” he said.
Universal Language
Kim picked up Chinese and English soon enough, as well as the ancient language of classical Chinese dance, an art form full of cultural nuance and references that date thousands of years back.
“Its expressive power is strong, it can bring to life characters. I was interested in the ancient legends, values, morals … and I wanted to share this with other people,” Kim said.
“Reading these stories and histories, I felt a lot of emotions in the scenes when gods show something to the humans, and I really like the heroes. Sometimes I was very touched by their unwavering heart, or when they do something that makes me think ‘I want to be like that too.’”
And on stage, he can be. Characteristic of classical Chinese dance is the expressivity Kim mentioned; the art form has roots in all the physical arts of ancient China, including operatic dance. Through dance, Kim can embody these characters, and share with audiences their joys, sorrows, courage, virtues, and motivations.
People sometimes find it noteworthy that Kim is Korean.
“For instance, my cousins told me—you’re Korean; why classical Chinese dance?” he said. “The messages behind the art, the principles, values, morals—they’re universal.”
Korean culture is mostly rather traditional, he adds, and traditional cultures around the world share common values like benevolence, propriety, and loyalty. Historically, traditional Chinese culture has also influenced many nations around present-day China, and Kim grew up with stories like the Monkey King’s adventures from the beloved classic “Journey to the West.” These stories are rife with values that still move people today, he explained, like compassion, loyalty, justice, and integrity.
“Universal values speak the strongest to people,” he said. “Classical Chinese dance is a body language, one that everyone can understand.”
Expanding His Range
In 2018, Kim became a principal dancer in his tour group.
It was also the year he was first cast as a major antagonist in one of Shen Yun’s dances.
“This was a significant turning point in my acting career, as it allowed me to break out of my comfort zone and explore new territories,” Kim said.
In the dance “The Modern Temple” from Shen Yun’s 2018 tour, Kim portrayed a character who sets out to con a temple’s devout followers, and is in effect defeated. Far from the heroes he had long admired, this role required Kim to strengthen his acting skills.
“It proved to be an invaluable learning experience that strengthened my skills and helped me grow as a performer,” he said. “Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to expand my acting range.”
A Shen Yun production includes around a dozen dance vignettes, spanning 5,000 years of Chinese history. As such, the performers, more often than not, will exit the stage donning one hat and quickly return with another. Kim added that the same year he first portrayed a villain, he also took on the role of a “goofy” ancient Chinese scholar in the dance “Buffoonery in the Schoolyard,” drawing loud laughs from the audience through comic antics.
It stretched his acting muscles again, but it also required coordinating the acting with the difficult tumbling techniques of classical Chinese dance.
“Coordinating distance and timing to match the music and sound effects of the scene required precise attention to detail,” he shared. The costuming, which functioned as a prop, added another layer of complexity too—the character suffers a disfiguring injury on stage and is cured all in the same seven minutes of the dance, requiring “careful coordination and execution” of the prosthetic prop and choreography.
Two years later, the results of that year of growth on stage were apparent. In 2020, Kim was also cast in an antagonist role, this time one of Chinese history’s most notorious villains, Dong Zhuo, in the dance “The Beauty Trap.”
“[He’s] a tyrant with extreme traits,” Kim said, such as “cruelty, violence, and lack of restraint.” To prepare, Kim delved into historical references, practiced in front of the mirror, and received coaching from experienced choreographers and instructors. It wasn’t smooth sailing.
“Despite all the preparation, I received some constructive criticism after a dress rehearsal that my persona lacked solidity and substance, which was crucial for the role,” he shared. It turned out that feedback was just the missing piece to the puzzle.
It ultimately pushed “me to my limits,” he said, and by the time of the tour he had enhanced his craft to deliver an authentic performance in one of the most memorable story-based dances of the production that year.
That year’s program included some comedic vignettes as well. This time, however, they were a unique experience for Kim.
“The fact that I was both the choreographer and the main role made it rather special,” he said. In the 2020 piece “The Novice Monks,” a young couple visits a Buddhist temple ahead of their wedding to offer their prayers. However, during the trip the bride-to-be is abducted, and it’s up to a young monk to save the day.
The young monk was an involved role for Kim. The character took the stage comically, before transitioning into the monk disguised as the bride, and then back again for the dynamic showdown scenes. “I had to fluidly transition between two distinct personas—the monk and the bride—a skill I had not previously mastered,” he said.
“The dance program allowed me to bring my creative vision to life, while also teaching me the importance of attention to detail, hard work, and dedication,” he said. “Overall, the experience was personally and professionally enriching.”
It was a valuable experience in performing his own choreography, another skill Kim has developed in his time with Shen Yun.
Timeless Stories
Kim says he has always been interested in choreography, and in his time as a student was spent creating dances for colleagues’ competition entries.
As time went on, “[Shen Yun’s] Artistic Director encouraged me to go in this direction, and that gave me more confidence,” Kim said.
Most noteworthy, perhaps, is his piece in the 2023 Shen Yun season. The story-based dance “Unprecedented Crime” shows the courage of people of faith in modern day China, the very real persecution of Falun Gong spiritual practitioners at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, and also shows a spark of hope.
It’s become one of the most-talked about dances in Shen Yun’s program this season.
“I feel it’s important to tell people about this persecution. And it’s good for people to know. Put from a humanity perspective, you can’t not care about this,” Kim said.
Kim also practices Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, following the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. He had read many stories about the ongoing persecution in China. “I felt thankful that I’m in a free society, but also that I want to … let people know about this [persecution].”
For the 2023 season, Kim choreographed a second piece as well, “Sacred Quest Through Vermillion Kingdom,” choreographed with Yu Yue. It is a story from the Monkey King’s tales in “Journey to the West,” the saga that formed Kim’s most memorable first impression of Shen Yun.
“The reason these ancient stories have been continually passed down for thousands of years is because they’re the best and most interesting stories,” Kim said. “Traditional values are the most important thing in creating art.”
It was these stories that compelled Kim to pursue a career in art, and in Shen Yun he feels he has the opportunity to realize his mission.
“And because I’m touched [by these stories], I want to share this with other people too,” he said.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
