MELBOURNE, Australia—Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company gave their 2014 final matinee performance for Melbourne theatregoers, at the State Theatre, on Sunday. The boulevard outside the theatre was busy with cars and trams and horse drawn carriages and, although the weather was bright and sunny, many people chose to experience the peace and harmony, found in the theatre, as Shen Yun dancers presented on stage the myths and legends of 5,000 years of Chinese history.

Among the appreciative audience was artist and psychology student Catherine Styles who was the winner of the Melbourne Review Shen Yun Competition. As a sculptor and an artist she took particular delight in the visual images created by the dancers themselves.

“The visual displays were very very beautiful!”

“Every costume in a Shen Yun performance is presented with brilliant colors, displaying a splendid spectacle—from the Tang Dynasty’s “Raiment of Rainbows and Feathers” to imperial dragon robes, phoenix coronets, and cloud capes,”  according to the company’s web site.

“I really enjoyed particularly the Han dancers with the long sleeves. And the yellow river dancers with the silks from around their waists—they were incredible!”

Ms. Styles was also intrigued with the state-of-the-art graphics technology of the backdrops and how the digital projection infinitely expands and transforms the stage. They have been described as “magical windows to completely different realms.”

“I thought the use of the backdrop was very interesting. The way they popped in and out of the backdrop was very interesting, I hadn’t seen that in a visual performance before.”

Shen Yun’s story-based dances form a thread that links past and present, from bygone dynasties and far-off places to present day China. Some of the dances relate stories about the current situation in communist China—the repression of people of faith. For this reason, Shen Yun is banned from the country.

Ms. Styles felt concern about the issue of human rights occurring in China as portrayed in two of the dances, and deemed it very educational.

She had a wonderful time at the performance saying, “I feel really elated from the performance. I felt that it was really beautiful, inspiring and moving but the same time very thought provoking.”

Reporting by Kathy McWilliams and Philippa Rayment

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.

The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006