Luke Donnellan, the state minister for Child Protection and Disability in Victoria, said he appreciated the authentic Chinese culture that he and his family experienced at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre on Feb. 9.
“The history of China is a long history. There are many influences over that period of time … so it’s really giving a greater understanding of that.
“I guess the development of the culture, the dancing—it’s helping me to understand all that,” Donnellan said.
Shen Yun showcases five millennia of Chinese traditions and cultural values that were almost lost under 70 years of communist rule.
For Donnellan, the performance presents a new and different side of China. “I think that’s the important part, that people have that opportunity, more than anything else,” he said.
“It’s really saying, this is the history we want to present of China, and we leave it to you to make those assessments.”
Kevin Bailey, a Senate candidate for the Australian Conservatives Party, a former SAS member in the Australian Army, and a former consul general for East Timor, is no stranger to other cultures.
He said he knew what he was watching was the authentic history of Chinese culture.
“The fact that the cultural expression of a lot of the Chinese culture that can’t be displayed in China today is very sad—one of the greatest civilizations that the Earth’s seen. And to actually keep that alive is something I’m very pleased with,” he said.
According to Shen Yun’s program book, its performances explore themes such as faith in the divine and having the courage to speak the truth.
Bailey said he was impressed with a story that was set in today’s China about people practising meditation.
“I think, obviously, the persecution of Falun Dafa is particularly poignant,” Bailey said, referencing the meditation practice banned in China by the communist party.
“What it’s portraying is that whole triumph of good over evil, and the fact that people can continually push to hold down truth and beauty and goodness, but that ultimately, force cannot overcome the truth.
“Ultimately, truth will prevail.”
NTD News, Melbourne, Australia
