Press
2017-2026
“Lin’s singular choreographic and creative approaches. Often transcending boundaries in ways that build connection, Lin and KYL/D are Philadelphia treasures.” - Broad Street Review, 2025
"Black Moon unites Lin's distinctive style and ethos with topical yet timeless concerns, and KYL/D's talented dancers ensured they landed with a punch." - Broad Street Review, 2025
“Lin’s Breath into Air… This meaningful new work explores grief and loss as opportunities for reflection and gratitude…It embodies truths often ignored in American society: death is a part of life, and transitions create room for growth.” - Broad Street Review, 2024
“A complex and thoughtful work, Breath into Air invites multiple interpretations… strong performances by a talented ensemble and images that stay with you after the dance ends.” - Broad Street Review, 2024
" (Breath Into Air) ... original music by Cory Neale which showed great strength in capturing a jarring score… The philosophy and movements transcended upon us with a cinematic effect dedicated to this emotional response, which in short drew awe inspiringly, light-from-darkness." - Dance Enthusiast, 2024
“bold choreography and showmanship…” - Metro Philly, 2024
“an artistic fusion that integrates traditional and modern, folk and urban cultures. (Lin’s) “Breath Into Air,” furthers the possibility of traversing cultural boundaries by exploring a collective human consciousness. -thINKingDANCE, 2024
“The kinesthetic empathy created by the virtuoso moving and breathing dancers… evokes feelings of familiarity, alienness, and healing.” -thINKingDANCE, 2024
“The emphasis on the dancers' sound of breathing, which has become a unique method in Kun- Yang's choreography, aurally conducts the energy flowing between movements and coincides with the theme of the piece.” -thINKingDANCE, 2024
" Breath into Air is an emotional tour de force-a moving addition to KYL/D's substantive repertoire." - The Dance Journal, 2024
“ Dance has the power to stir the viewer’s innermost longings and outermost visceral reactions. Few choreographers reach into those sensibilities as effectively as Kun-Yang Lin. “ “ With quiet power, he arrives at the essence of an emotion—humor, spirituality, anguish, ecstasy—extracts it raw, and then, with quicksilver speed, subtly refines it.” “ Lin founded his company, Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers, (KYL/D) in New York City as Kylin’s Garden in 1998. Shortly after they moved to Philadelphia 15 years ago I wrote the above description and I stand by it today. After Covid the company resumed its stage presence, and it was a gift to reacquaint with them at the Mandell Theater this month.” - Fjord Review, 2023
“Lin’s work, as a retired Temple University Professor Emeritus of dance and his dedication and beliefs go beyond his programs. When his company first moved…neighbors did not give them a warm welcome. A proof of the community networking Metzner, Lin and anyone connected with the company have done over the years—going door to door to meet the neighbors, inviting them in for free studio shows, and teaching their children—Saturday’s substantial matinee audience included friends and family. Every ethnicity of the company’s dancers was represented, making it the most diverse audience I’ve seen of late. This was a most soul-filling and celebratory program.” - Fjord Review, 2023
“one of Philadelphia’s leading modern dance companies” - The Dance Journal, 2023
“The retrospective program offered a stirring look back on a fruitful quarter-century of dancing. Captivated audiences will look forward to seeing where KYL/D goes next.” - The Dance Journal, 2023
“a one-of-a-kind … connected Eastern philosophies and practices with contemporary dance to form something as new and unique.” - Broad Street Review, 2023
“As one of the country’s only Asian-American contemporary dance companies, the Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D) already stand out. However, it’s their performances, or more so, the bold choreography and risks they take that really cement that notion.” - Metro Philly, 2022
“As a young dancer, he impressed his teachers with his impeccable muscle memory and spatial awareness. He went on to develop these skills into a novel movement and mindfulness discipline, CHI Awareness Practice,...This technique remains central to his work.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2021
“Kun-Yang Lin and his dance artists offer a sequence of movement meditations perfectly calibrated to the present moment. For performing artists…It has been a time to go deeper into solo practices, cultivating the sensory awareness that animates our dancing bodies. Both of these dynamics appear in the six succinct dances of this concert, performed with commitment and heart.” - Dance Enthusiast NYC, 2021
The Wind: “Lin filled every move with grace and feeling, like a slow waltz with an old love. Two dancers joined him on stage and the camera reversed its view to reveal the company at the front of the house, reaffirming community as they danced, separated but still together. It was impossible to watch and not reflect on my flown youth and my enduring love of my art and community of artists.” - Broad Street Review, 2021
“The manifestation of unity in the studio captures a single space where their different worlds embrace oneness.” – Dance Enthusiast NYC, 2021
“…offers a gateway to spiritual journeys, personal epiphanies and incredible showcases of the human spirit. ” - Metro Philly, 2019
“Lin draws upon philosophies like Buddhism and practices such as martial arts and Chinese opera…. compelling…coherence of its artistic vision.” - Broad Street Review, 2019
“Yin and Yang is a commonly known Chinese philosophical concept…Experiencing KUN-YANG LIN/DANCERS, you may come to feel and understand what it means.” - Phindie, 2019
“doesn’t back away from tackling complex social themes…an ever expansive and inspired choreographic journey” - The Dance Journal, 2018
“[W]hat cannot be said in words and music, Lin says eloquently in dance…a visual dreamscape…another realm of consciousness.” - The Dance Journal, 2018
“effectively uses movement to explore seeking, questioning and worshiping…offers the potential to bring people together through a shared experience of dance.” - Broad Street Review, 2018
“...Lin’s choreography showcas[es] athleticism and dynamic East-West dancefusion.” - HuffPost, 2017
“compelling …Sanctuary, challenge us with their message and compel us to give them a voice.” - Broad Street Review, 2017
“...a piece that explored the competitive nature of politics as a game of chess that, like war, both reveals and obscures our common humanity.” - Broad Street Review, 2017
“I loved the forceful style of this dance, which combined Chinese and Western technique. The dancers’ extensions were an in-your-face challenge, with legs like battle swords, flexible but steely. Even the frozen poses hummed with contained power.” - Broad Street Review, 2017
“As the title implies, what is offered inside the theater is a sanctuary for those who carry pain, struggle, or need a safe space to express and share those feelings with someone who understands and embraces them.” - Phindie, 2017
“Lin’s choreography is a bridge between East and West...The unique breathing methods … let the dancers and the viewers feel Chi—energy—around and inside the dancers.” - Phindie, 2017
“...deeply philosophical and inspiring.” - Phindie, 2017
“Lin’s work…..spiritual… political .... hope.” - The Dance Journal, 2017
“...I can’t help but feel a little better about the state of the world. Love will triumph with artists like Kun-Yang Lin adding dance to the arsenal of the resistance.” - The Dance Journal, 2017
"[SANTUARIO] shocked me back into a clear…realization of how dancing serves, perhaps uniquely, to buoy and nurture humanity in the face of tragedy...reminded me of how dance is transformative." - Psychology Today, 2017