But when the gong sounded and the curtain opened, she was instantly captivated by the vibrant colours and the beautiful smiling faces of the dancers.

“Shockingly, amazingly divine,” said Ms. Viskovich, who was crowned Mrs. Australia International in 2020 and is currently the director of Legacy International Pageant Australia.

“I didn’t know what my mum had booked me for; I came here today, and I think I was divinely-guided to see this.”

As the show went on, Ms. Viskovich was enthralled with the new costumes, new stories, and new messages, which she said happened “so often ... I wasn’t one minute bored.”

“Every single moment, there was something new happening.”

China’s glorious culture is believed to be divinely bestowed. But after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rose to power in 1949, it deemed this spiritual heritage an ideological threat and tried to destroy these traditions.

Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance company established in 2006 in New York by a group of Chinese artists, seeks to revive this almost lost culture and showcase it to the world.

“I thought it was just ballet, but the messages included were very spiritually driven—it resonated with me because I’m very faith-driven myself.”

The message she saw on the stage was to “stay true to your core values and let your heart shine,” the former Mrs. Australia International said.

“The message that I saw was everyone holds their own power. And so when you tap into your spirituality, then you’ll have complete freedom in your life to live and create happiness for people around you as well.”

“I think beauty is not exterior, it’s interior,” she noted. “And when you can let your heart shine and just be in tune with love and light, then that’s what people pick up, and that’s what real beauty is.”

“There’s so much negativity that’s happening today. But if we all rise above and bring our love and light to the world, we can all have the power and just make this world a better place to live in, so I love what they’re doing,” Ms. Viskovich said.

“I think it’s very powerful, and I can’t wait to see another show.”