Photos of the Week   Check out performers’ photos from the first leg of tour.

Lunar New Year Quiz   Do you know your firecrackers from your dumplings? Test your Lunar New Year smarts!         Mythistory and Yu   According to legend, Yu the Great was the founder of dynastic rule in China and the virtuous tamer of floods.       Star Survey   We asked our principal dancers: who is your favorite character to portray?

YOU ASKED: What’s the inspiration behind Shen Yun’s story dances?     Shen Yun’s short story dances are like little excerpts from Chinese history—from the Yellow Emperor of antiquity through the millennia of dynasties and all the way to the modern day. A unique feature of Chinese civilization is that its history has been recorded and passed down uninterrupted for 5,000 years, sometimes in vivid detail. This provides Shen Yun with vast source material, making it possible to revive this ancient culture on the twenty-first century stage.   In under ten minutes each, Shen Yun’s mini dramas recount timeless legends, bygone heroes, literary classics, celestial paradises, and more. Every dance embodies and celebrates the virtues that were at the heart of Chinese civilization for thousands of years: loyalty, courage, compassion, piety, and veneration for the divine.

Coming Up:   Next month, discover the all-new story dances of Shen Yun 2017!