A Senator for Western Australia, Peter Georgiou, was aware of the odds Shen Yun Performing Arts had to defy in order to become the world-class show it is today.
“Today is the first time I’ve been to something like this; it was absolutely magnificent,” Georgiou said. “The colors, the costumes, the background, the dancing … it was very special.”
Established in 2006, Shen Yun tours the globe every year to bring authentic traditional Chinese culture to the world’s stage through the universal languages of music and dance. In just a few years, Shen Yun became the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company.
“From these people on stage, they were just beaming with pride to perform, show their culture, show their tradition, and I really take my hat off to those young, those young dancers, they were … if you had a look at the girls, they were all smiling, they were so proud to be performing,” said the Hon. Robin David Scott MLC, member of Mining and Pastoral Region Pauline, Hanson’s One Nation.
Chinese culture is said to be divinely inspired, and passed down continuously through dynasty after dynasty for 5,000 years. But in just a few decades, the Chinese Communist Party has nearly eradicated this entire cultural legacy. According to its program book, Shen Yun’s stories range from ancient myths and legends, to contemporary stories set in China, all meant to showcase the essence of traditional Chinese culture and its emphasis on principles like the harmony between Heaven and Earth and good begets good while evil is punished.
“I mean, it really opened my eyes tonight, it really did,” said Scott. “And, like I said, that gave me hope. And hope is the key word, I believe. Hope that someday, someday the Chinese people will be able to witness Shen Yun themselves.”
“I mean, everybody should be proud of their culture and their traditions. Unfortunately, the people in China can’t enjoy that. They can’t enjoy their culture. They can’t look back and reflect on their history. Everything’s been changed over there. And it’s all because of this military might that they call communism. And if they could get Shen Yun back into their own country, the people would only benefit from it. The people would warm to it,” he added.
NTD News, Perth, Australia
