MELBOURNE, Australia—New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts gave their penultimate performance in Melbourne, on Saturday March 29, to an energetic and responsive audience.

Among the audience members were Joy Helen Lea, an award-winning artist of over 50 years who currently specialises in figure and abstract painting, and her husband David Lea, a former executive director at Minerals & Petroleum Victoria.

Ms. Lea, who loves “to use movement and rich colour” in her artistic work, according to her website, says she was enchanted by the “gentility” of Shen Yun Performing Arts.

She says the colours of the whole performance, with the stunning costumes and vivid backdrops, were “beautiful”. In particular, she enjoyed the classical Chinese dance Manchurian Grace, in which a group of Manchurian princesses “[glide] between the pillars with practiced ease,” according to the program book.

The Manchurian dance, performed in their unique shoes, was of particular delight to Ms. Lea, who called it “very delicate and beautiful”. She was stuck by all the performances by the female dancers and their graceful movements.

Mr. Lea felt the most significant aspect of the performance was the mission to preserve the Chinese culture. He said anything to preserve culture in this day, when many have already been lost, is highly valuable work.

According to the Shen Yun website, “Chinese culture is ... known as ‘divinely inspired,’ and is the only culture in the world to have a continuous history of 5,000 years.”

“Humanity’s treasure was nearly lost, but through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is bringing back this glorious culture,” it says.

Both Mr. and Ms. Lea said Shen Yun was unlike anything else they’ve seen.

“I enjoyed it. We came because it was something unique [and] we really thought this was something we’ve never seen before,” Mr Lea said. “I found it really interesting from that different cultural perspective.”

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