Yin He Dance breathes new life into Chinese tradition

Yin He dancers Wendy Ruan (from left), Lisa Liu and Judy Liu perform a Dai peacock dance during this year’s Chinatown Summer Fair. (Anthony Jackson/for the Sun-Times)

When you feast your eyes on Yin He’s dancers, you immediately pick up on the meditative quality they exude.

“The tranquility you experience when you engage with our work is connected to the practice of communal breath,” explains Angela Tam, the troupe’s managing and artistic director. “Not only are we dancing together, but we are using breath resonance, inhaling and exhaling slowly as one.”