A Life Devoted to Virtue
｜Shen Yun Principal Dancer Albert Yang

English text by Irene Luo
Photography by Larry Dai

What began for Albert Yang as an impulsive interest in classical Chinese dance soon blossomed into a life-fulfilling passion rooted in his heart. Now, this 22-year-old Chinese-Canadian is a principal dancer with the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company, Shen Yun Performing Arts. Touring the globe, Albert performs in over 100 shows every year, showcasing the exquisite treasures of China’s 5,000 years of civilization.

For Albert, every day of training, rehearsing, and performing with Shen Yun has been a process of forging his character, elevating his mind, and establishing himself firmly in the wonders of his profound cultural heritage.

AN EXQUISITE ART

In 2004, and again in 2005 and 2006, Albert’s parents brought him to see New Tang Dynasty’s New Year Gala, a performance that sparked his interest in classical Chinese dance. To Albert, the performers on stage looked handsome, and their movements impressive. He began training, and in 2009, he passed the audition for Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, one of the world’s leading schools of classical Chinese dance. “When I was accepted, it felt like my life’s destiny had completely changed,” he says. He still remembers the precise date: February 23, 2009.

But his determination was quickly tested by the rigorous training at Fei Tian. To increase their students’ flexibility, the teachers often instructed them to stretch in agonizing positions. When Albert practiced leg splits, every second was an excruciating test of his will. With his arms propping up his body, he could not move at all—not even to wipe his pouring sweat—lest he fall into an ever deeper and more unbearable leg split.

In those days, Albert woke up every day consumed with dread. But eventually, he passed a threshold, developing a mental fortitude to withstand the pain. Suffering was an unavoidable part of a dancer’s path—a life with no shortcuts, no days off. “You get used to it,” Albert says.

But classical Chinese dance is not merely physically challenging. It is also mentally demanding, as a dancer must grasp the inner meanings behind every movement.

The magic of Chinese dance lies in the subtleties. It’s a combination of yin and yang, finding balance between extremes. Movements should be tight, but not rigid; relaxed, but not lax. Every movement involves a subtle blend of apparent contradictions. Dancers appear upright, but also not upright; slanted, but not slanted.

To master these nuances, all students at Fei Tian must study Chinese language, culture, and history, immersing themselves in the wisdom of five millennia of Chinese civilization. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Albert learned Chinese from his parents, but he did not truly begin to cherish his cultural heritage until he arrived at Fei Tian. Now he’s filled with awe for the profundity of Chinese culture, which he feels he’s only beginning to understand. “There’s no end to learning,” Albert says.

CARVING A CHARACTER

In every two-hour Shen Yun performance, Albert inhabits numerous characters, emotional states, and time periods. Like an artist who meticulously carves a sculpture, he tirelessly perfects every role, a process he finds delightful.

In a battlefield scene, even when a general and the soldiers appear to perform the same choreography, the nuances of their movements and their demeanors are completely different. “The distinctions are very subtle. But audiences can see it immediately,” Albert says.

In 2014, Albert played Zhuge Liang, a writer, inventor, and the most accomplished strategist of the Three Kingdoms period. Albert devoted weeks to studying Zhuge Liang, contemplating his character, and testing out various postures and movements. With the help of teachers and fellow students, he adjusted every detail to reflect Zhuge Liang’s appearance and inner state—confident and imposing, but also calm and collected. By the end, Albert says, “I’m not performing Zhuge Liang. Rather, I am Zhuge Liang.”

Of the roles he’s played, perhaps the most difficult of all are the villains. When he was first given such roles, he struggled in his heart. But he knew that without evil, Shen Yun’s performances could not accentuate virtue. Without villains, they could not spotlight heroes. So Albert would calm his heart to immerse himself in the character, even if he found it morally repulsive. Now, he can vividly evoke the spirit of all of his roles, swiftly metamorphosing from a wretched evildoer into an immeasurably lofty and compassionate Buddha.

CULTIVATING VIRTUE

At the core of Shen Yun is devotion to moral elevation, the essence of traditional Chinese culture. The performing arts company celebrates selflessness, unity, and self-cultivation. “We’re all one big family,” Albert says. After a show, all the company members—including the soloists, the principal dancers, and the dance teachers—clean up together, from carrying props to sweeping the floor. It’s a sight that has baffled many theater employees.

And these values also permeate Shen Yun’s performances, which espouse virtue. An audience member once remarked that the Shen Yun performers were like “a lone army in battle”—a battle against moral decay in a world of materialism and moral subjectivity.

To reach such high moral standards, Albert is guided by the ancient practice of Falun Dafa, part of an enduring tradition of self-cultivation in Chinese culture. “As a Falun Dafa practitioner, you have to abide by truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance,” he says. The practice taught Albert to selflessly help others, to calmly accept criticism, and to demand his own sincerity and kindness in every interaction.

Falun Dafa also instilled in Albert standards for judging art. With Shen Yun, he seeks creativity rooted in traditional values and art that’s sincere, compassionate, and marked by moral integrity.

It’s apt that his name in Chinese is Desheng Yang—meaning “a life of virtue.”