SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

‘What China Was Like Before Communism': Australian Christian Lobby State Director Praises Shen Yun

Mar 05, 2024

CANBERRA, Australia—Shen Yun Performing Arts used the power of creativity and dance to “bring expression to a story of what China was like before communism,” according to a senior official from the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL).

“I thought it was a fantastic performance, a great show of creativity and beauty to express story,” said Joshua Rowe, the ACL’s state director for New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

Mr. Rowe attended a performance by the New York-based company at Canberra Theatre on March 5. He said he didn’t know much about China’s traditional culture but came away feeling that the values conveyed in the performance were something that Australia needed.

“Discipline, humility, faithful devotion to one’s spouse”—these are the values and virtues he praised Shen Yun for depicting using a “creative medium.”

“I think those are all really beautiful values that Australian societies also had in the past, and we’ve lost touch with a bit, so I thought this was really important for the Australian community to see something like this tonight,” he said.

He was referring to a piece that told the story of a wife’s devotion to her husband, who was away at war for 18 years. Shen Yun’s performance includes dance stories, classical Chinese and ethnic dances, as well as solo music and song.

Shen Yun’s costumes are inspired by China’s 5,000 years of history and diverse ethnicities, which the company states is inspired by the “attire worn in the heavens.” Mr. Rowe was impressed by the way the dancers used their costumes, such as long flowing sleeves, to create “patterns and contours” in some of the pieces.

Mr. Rowe also noted the impressive athleticism on display by the male dancers. “I thoroughly enjoyed that,” he said.

Shen Yun’s dancers are among the world’s best trained in classical Chinese dance, which sits at the heart of the company and is uniquely expressive and athletic.

Shen Yun Is ‘Really Powerful’ in Showing China ‘Before Communism’

Mr. Rowe said Shen Yun’s mission to revive traditional culture was “really important.”

“One of the things that I’ve taken away from tonight is that it helps us to see the stifling nature of a communist regime and how there’s beauty in that traditional culture,” he said.

Mr. Rowe noted that issues relating to China are usually discussed intellectually, but Shen Yun brings a “new dimension” to the conversation using its art form to show “what China was like before communism.”

“Often we think and look at things from such an intellectual standpoint, but having a creative medium through which to express things adds a new dimension and elicits feelings,” he said.

Mr. Rowe said this was “really powerful.”

The plight of Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) depicted in Shen Yun highlighted for Mr. Rowe how governments can, if unchecked, stifle religious and other freedoms.

“That’s one of the things I’ve taken away from tonight,” he said.

Shen Yun’s performers practice Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice from the Buddhist tradition whose adherents strive to live by the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, and practice meditation. Under the Chinese Communist Party, Falun Dafa is persecuted, and many of its adherents have been imprisoned, tortured, or killed.

The regime also targets Christians, Buddhists, and other faith groups that the atheistic CCP views as ideological threats to its power.

How Shen Yun used its art form to tell a story about China “before communism” left the biggest impression on Mr. Rowe, who, as a Christian and director at the ACL, expressed the importance of freedom of religion.

Reporting by NTD and Caden Pearson.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.