GEELONG, Australia—Geelong residents’ usual passion for Aussie rules football was superceded by their heartfelt enthusiasm for the international show that briefly stopped on their doorstep—Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour.
A packed house roared with applause and three curtain calls at the second show in Geelong’s Costa Hall.
Among the audience were dance teacher Mrs. Thompson and her mother, Mrs. Worrall.
“I suggested to my daughter that maybe she’d like to see it for her birthday. She’ll have a new baby soon, and won’t be able to get out as much, so we wanted a last enjoyable afternoon together,” said Mrs. Worrall.
Mrs. Thompson who teaches dance to secondary school students said: “I liked it, I liked all [the] styles of dance, I like to see different things integrated.” She added that her favourite dance was the “final one of the first half, Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain, I liked that one. Their movement, their energy, the different rhythms in it ... “
She went on to say that the dancers “technique is high, and the training, as one of the announcers said, is very broad.”
Mrs. Worrall was quite moved by the experience: “The backdrop, the visuals, yes, I found some of it quite moving. Especially the one with the persecution. I also saw some Chinese being quite moved to tears with that, it must have been bringing back memories,” she said.
Mrs. Worall also commented further on what touched her about that dance. “It’s just the feeling they put into it, and there was the young girl in it, and I thought you know, when her father was dying, it was a really good performance with her, sobbing over his body, and you felt the grief and the anguish of people, but the joy when he was going back to his maker.
“I also liked the flower one, the Udumbara. I found that ... the colours were beautiful, the light to dark, and deep colours. It was just a very calming and beautiful piece.”
The dance The Udumbara’s Bloom that Mrs. Worall is referring to is about the legendary Udumbara flower of Buddhist lore, which blossoms once every 3,000 years. Rich with spiritual import, its unfolding is said to herald the coming of a great sage or enlightened being.
Shen Yun Performing Arts is a New York-based performance company founded by leading Chinese artists. The group is seeking to revive China’s traditional culture and present it to audiences around the world through Chinese classical dance and music.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
