Shen Yun, Issue 133, Magazine

How This Shen Yun Dancer Perfects the ‘Plucking Stars’ Leap

Text by Wendy Guo
Photography by Yifan Evan Ning

Updated on May 7, 2026

“Learning how traditional Chinese culture is intertwined with the divine has been the most eye- opening experience in my life,” said Grace Rubacek, the recipient of a second consecutive gold medal at the 2025 NTD International Classical Chinese Dance Competition.

As one of the rare dancers of non-Chinese descent to have mastered the form, she locates the triumph of her art far beyond the gravity-defying acrobatics that might first catch the eye. Its essence, she suggests, resides elsewhere—at times in a subtler register of ancient Chinese poetry, such as that of the Tang Dynasty’s “Poet Immortal,” Li Bai.

In Night Stay at a Mountain Temple, the poet ascends to such heights that he imagines himself almost plucking the stars, yet lowers his voice to a whisper, wary of disturbing the celestial beings above.

“The feeling is marvelous, mysterious, undisturbed, and profoundly beautiful,” she reflects. “It suggests something higher. Sometimes we draw on that sensibility and try to carry it into movement. It lends the dance a richness that technique alone cannot achieve.”

Such sensibilities, however, did not come imme- diately. Rubacek recalls her early hesitation with candor: “I was scared at first. I thought it might feel too foreign.” Trained initially in the outward clarity and linear precision of Western ballet, the transition to the layered, inward subtlety of classical Chinese dance felt like a kind of cultural vertigo.

It was through her parents’ encouragement and the example of her brother, already flourishing at the academy, that she chose to try. What began as a tentative experiment has since blossomed into a rewarding artistic path, grounded in the realization that the highest form of art is not merely seen, but felt as a visceral connection to the sublime.

“Now I really love classical Chinese dance,” she grins.

Amid a demanding tour schedule, a lighthearted moment snatched in between.

Mastering emptiness

“Each time I learn something new, I am amazed,” says Rubacek, reflecting on her study of ancient Chinese landscape painting at Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, an institution devoted to training young performers in classical Chinese arts while cultivating both character and values.

Raised in upstate New York, Rubacek became attuned to the fascinating contrasts in aesthetic perception between East and West. Consider landscape painting: where a Western artist might render every ripple of a lake with meticulous care, a Chinese painter may leave the water untouched, hinting at its presence through the fall of a leaf, the tilt of a willow branch, or the placement of a solitary boat amid a vast expanse of negative space.

This principle of liubai, or “leaving emptiness,” invites the viewer into the composition. “It gives you room to imagine,” she explains. The result is an ineffable atmosphere, a sensation that stretches beyond what can be seen or spoken.

For Rubacek, this philosophy translates seamlessly into dance. In painting, every brushstroke reveals how the artist perceives and interacts with the surrounding world. “I’ve come to realize that dance is exactly the same. How you carry yourself in daily life, your attention to detail, your inner temperament, all of it inevitably shows on stage.”

This expression of inner substance through outward form is central to classical Chinese dance, embodied in the concept of bearing—the graceful translation of feeling into movement. Each gesture becomes a reflection of the self, and the pursuit of artistic excel- lence evolves into a lifelong process of self-refinement.

“Each dancer faces their own challenges,” she says. “Ultimately, the dance reflects how one lives. It is not merely about mastering movement on the surface, but about nurturing the beauty within.”

While each performer carries their own distinct feeling, the ensemble together achieves a syn- chronization that feels almost otherworldly. This breathtaking harmony at Shen Yun perfectly illus- trates Confucius’ renowned yet elusive words: “The righteous person seeks harmony, not conformity; the petty person seeks conformity, not harmony.”

The invisible catalyst

This journey toward an inner beauty is anchored in Rubacek’s practice of Falun Dafa, a mind– body cultivation rooted in the universal tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The practice, which encompasses meditation, gentle ex- ercises, and a few books, has become the dancer’s “secret” to rapid growth.

“My mind has become much calmer,” the gold medallist reflects. “I can recognize distracting thoughts when I am learning.”

Speaking of the recent competition, she notes the remarkable artistry among her peers: “Everyone has improved so much. The results were impossible to predict, as each dancer brought something unique.” She adds, “There is a strong sense of mutual support here, which I think is another reason we’re able to improve so quickly.”

In 2025, Rubacek took the stage with a work that blended virtuosity and cheerful wit. She portrayed a mischievous heroine in Qing Dynasty attire who, having missed her train, slips off her shoes and, when discovered, shields herself with a gesture of playful, feigned modesty.

The choreography unfolded with an air of ease, though its effortlessness was forged through a rigor of discipline and repetition beyond perception.

“The training for competition is exacting,” she reflects. “Each movement must be repeated until it becomes instinctive, until thought falls away. Only then can I begin to imbue it with inner feeling.”

In earlier years, she admits, her thoughts were often preoccupied with technical worries: “Will I hold my balance here, or there?” By 2025, however, a shift had occurred: “I felt fully immersed in the music, completely focused, without extraneous thought.”

The shared pulse of humanity

Beyond the rigorous demands of the academy, Rubacek’s artistry has been further refined on the global stage. Touring with Shen Yun, she performs close to 100 shows each year, a journey that has carried her across Asia, Australia, and the far-reaching corners of the world. This immersive engagement with diverse cultures has broadened her perspective while deepening her devotion to the art; she has come to see dance as a medium capable of dissolv- ing barriers.

“We perform for audiences who speak neither Chinese nor English, yet they leave deeply moved,” she reflects. “Beauty, compassion, resilience— these are shared human values that require no translation.”

Yet, the path toward such beauty and compassion is rarely a linear one; it is, more often than not, a gauntlet. If art is indeed the noble vessel for truth, then Shen Yun’s splendid portrayal of China Before Communism expresses a truth that an authoritarian apparatus finds fundamentally intolerable.

Surreal as it may seem, Shen Yun has faced over 150 hoax threats worldwide in the past two years, alongside coordinated smear campaigns and acts of sabotage, including slashed bus tires intended to endanger its performers. It is a relentless effort to suppress a performance that the world is, evidently, only more eager to see.

From New York to Tokyo, across more than 150 cities each year, over a million audience members gather, drawn to a beauty that cannot be broken and that knows no cultural bounds.

On the final evening of the 2025 competition, Rubacek danced with complete abandon, free of hesitation or regret. “I thought, ‘This is the last time I will perform this piece—give everything.’” The music swelled, and her body answered in full accord. Afterwards, her former ballet teacher approached, eyes alight: “You moved me.” In that fleeting exchange, East and West converged in a single, unspoken applause.