AUCKLAND, New Zealand—Tom Davis, a branch manager at the logistics company Mainfreight, said Shen Yun Performing Arts conveyed a “great message” of hope.
Shen Yun has concluded its 2025 tour in New Zealand with the last performance at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre, in Auckland on Feb. 23.
Davis, an audience member, said he got an amazing feeling as soon as the curtain lifted up.
“When the curtain first comes up … you feel excited and uplifted,” he said.
“You sort of expect the unexpected because that’s what we’re getting so far–something really cool, something really different,” he said. “[I’m] really enjoying it.”
At the same time, Davis said the biggest message he got after watching the performance was “There is always hope.”
This was reflected in the piece about the persecution of the spiritual practice of Falun Gong in China, where innocent people were oppressed by the Chinese communist regime because they followed the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance.
Despite the harsh reality, Falun Gong practitioners still uphold their beliefs with a positive attitude.
“At the end, the divine being comes in, and you know that there’s always hope no matter what’s going on in the world,” he said.
The manager said hope was really important in today’s society.
I’m Touched by Shen Yun: Travel Broker
Kay Gregan, a travel broker and credited cruise specialist, who brought 13 other people to see Shen Yun, said she was moved by the performance.“I have travelled the world a lot in my business, and I have done a lot of live theatre and shows, and I am absolutely touched by what I have seen,” she said.
“The spiritual awareness among your dancers, the feeling, the choreography, the videography, the orchestra–everything in its entirety, I have to say, has taken me to a very special place.”
Gregan said she sensed within all the dancers a sense of self-awareness, as well as their attitudes toward living their lives outside the oppression of communist China.
“I think the inspiration from this story, in allowing young people coming through the generations, [is] to be who you are, to be true to yourself, and not be told how to live your lives and how it should be, that you should or should not do this,” she said.
“I am just in awe and inspired by your belief and your courage … and the belief in what you do and standing up for who you are,” she said.
Gregan also thanked Shen Yun artists and encouraged them to keep up their work and believe in themselves.
“Keep taking that message forward [and] share that,” she said.
