Shen Yun Gives Australians ‘Greater Awareness’ Of Authentic Chinese Culture: Executive Director
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Louise Jones, executive director of Business 2 Business Insurance, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, Australia, on April 16, 2022. Ji Yun/Epoch Times
SYDNEY, Australia—For Louise Jones, executive director for insurance brokerage firm Business 2 Business Insurance, watching Shen Yun portray China’s 5,000-year-old culture through classical Chinese dance was an eye-opening experience.
“For an Australian audience, this is very different,” Ms. Jones said after watching Shen Yun at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre on April 16.
Shen Yun dancers are trained in classical Chinese dance, which includes advanced tumbling techniques and movements to enrich its dance vocabulary and expressivity. Additionally, an emotional expression, or bearing, known as “yun” is permeated in every movement. Over thousands of years of refinement, classical Chinese dance has become one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.
“We’re not used to seeing things like this … it stands out because it’s different from everything else,” Ms. Jones said.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts also showcases China’s traditional culture prior to communism, a time where myths and legends, music and art, Buddhist and Daoist philosophies, and traditions were a customary part of life.
Through a series of vignettes, Shen Yun performs ethnic, folk and story-based dances, which are accompanied by an orchestral arrangement that blends Eastern and Western instruments, along with soloists, and an animated backdrop.
Currently, Shen Yun cannot be performed in China, since the company’s mission is to revive what the Chinese Communist Party sought to systematically destroy—China’s traditional culture.
Ms. Jones said Shen Yun gives Australians a “greater awareness of [Chinese] culture,” but was surprised that the premier classical Chinese dance and music company was unable to be shown there.
“I thought it was disappointing that they couldn’t experience what we were experiencing,” she said, adding that she thought that the dancer’s skillsets and discipline were “better than what we see in other shows.”
Shen Yun Performs ‘From The Heart’: Hospitality Executive
Jonathan Bowmaker, an executive in hospitality in Sydney, attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, Australia, on April 16, 2022. NTD
Jonathan Bowmaker, an executive in hospitality in Sydney, was inspired by the “pure emotion” displayed by Shen Yun performers after he watched the premier Chinese performing arts company perform at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre on April 16.
“You can tell it’s definitely coming from the heart and how it feels as they go through the performances,” Mr. Bowmaker said.
“You can feel that the culture sort of touch, and they want to share it with those in the audience and those around,” he added.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture, said by ancient Chinese people to be “divinely inspired,” which was almost lost after 70 years under communism.
For 5,000 years, China was a place where harmony between heaven, earth, and humankind was the central belief of society. China was known as the “The Land of the Divine,” according to Shen Yun’s website.
Mr. Bowmaker said he enjoyed many of the vignettes that depict ancient China’s myths and legends.
But he was particularly touched by the modern piece, which shows practitioners of Falun Dafa in China holding firm to their faith, despite being persecuted by China’s communist regime. Falun Dafa is ancient spiritual practice based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, which is currently banned in China.
He said while that particular vignette was sad, it showed how in the end the characters were able to “move forward.”
“It sort of wrapped up the whole story,” he said. “It was beautiful.”
“There’s definitely some of the pieces about the modern sort of troubles and circumstances [and] they’re getting the message out.”
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