Australians should be ready to share in an experience full of energy and cultural insight with Shen Yun Performing Arts, said the Attorney-General of the Australian Capital Territory, Shane Rattenbury, after enjoying a performance at Canberra Theatre on April 1.
“The show was so enjoyable … so colourful, so energetic,” Mr. Rattenbury said. “The performers are so talented and it’s a really interesting cultural insight for Australians to share in that.”
Shen Yun, which is based in New York, is touring the world to present to its audiences the beauty and traditions of “China before communism.”
Mr. Rattenbury said he thought it is “really important that we have these discussions” about culture and communism’s destruction of China’s traditional cultures, which are said to be inspired by the divine.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive China’s 5000 year old culture through music and dance, showcasing a range of storylines and techniques that were almost lost under communist rule.
“I think across the world, we need to learn to embrace many cultures, to remember that our common thing is being human together. And we should embrace that and try to accept differences and embrace everybody,” Rattenbury added.
Former ABC radio presenter for the Tropical North, John Worldon, was also in the audience at the Canberra Theatre.
Mr. Worldon said it he was “very privileged” to have watched the performance, but said it was “a great shame” that the Chinese regime has tainted peoples’ perception of China.
“It is a great shame because I think the Chinese people as a whole are wonderful, very friendly, welcoming, and I think the perception of the government can taint the perception of China, or people,” he said.
Meanwhile, dance teacher Bree Rawrence who came to watch the performance with her partner Ben Lawrence, a business consultant, said that in addition to the show’s “incredible” costuming and talent, the cultural value was important for all people.
“I think it’s important to remember history and to celebrate history, and to remember all the cultures and all the different belief systems that we have as a nation, and as a country or as a world, so I think this really is a valuable way to have insight into something that we wouldn’t otherwise have insight into,” she said.
Shen Yun continues it’s Australia tour in Sydney, Melbourne, Bendigo, Toowoomba, the Gold Coast, and Adelaide through to May 15.
