MELBOURNE, Australia—Retired fabric designer Barbara Marinakis thoroughly enjoyed seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts on March 10 at the Plenary Theatre. It was her first time experiencing what Shen Yun describes as the beauty of “China before communism.”
“It was fabulous,” she said. “I really enjoyed the expertise, the beauty of the dancers, and the music, and the costumes.”
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company.
Its production is comprised of a series of short pieces that takes its audience on a journey through the dynasties and across the vast regions of China. Using classical Chinese dance, as well as folk and ethnic styles and solo musical performances, Shen Yun tells tales from the Middle Kingdom’s ancient times to the modern day.
“I’ve seen the commercials, but we heard that there were some threats … Me and a group of friends said, ‘That does it. We’re going to go and see the show,’” Ms. Marinakis said emphatically.
“We’re going to go and see it because of that—not just because of the commercials. I’ve always meant to come and see it, but [the threats] really made me mad. We said, ‘Let’s go and see it.’ I’m so glad we did. It was really fantastic.”
For Ms. Marinakis, the most memorable aspect of the performance was its “themes of kindness.”
“These themes are in many classical cultures. You see the themes of being kind to someone who is down and out, and then they turn out to be a God, a Divinity, and the people get rewarded and things like that—that’s very classic and I enjoyed all of it.”
Founded in 2006, Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture and moral values that were largely destroyed following the communist party’s rise to power and its promotion of atheism. As a result, the company is currently banned by the Chinese regime from performing in China.
As someone who designed costumes for community theater for many years, Ms. Marinakis particularly enjoyed Shen Yun’s vibrant costumes.
“The colors were very vibrant and especially the women’s costumes and the sleeves that flowed, it was just magnificent,” she praised. “I loved it.”
She also loved the artists’ use of special effects with its story-based dances, using its patented technology to seamlessly combined digital animations with the dancers’ movements on stage, creating a magical dimension that enhanced the storytelling.
“That really fascinating integration between the screen and real life, that was quite exciting to me,” Ms. Marinakis said. “I really enjoyed that.”
Ms. Marinakis told NTD she had a message for all the performers. “Thank you for all your dedication,” she said. “I can’t imagine how hard you have to work to get to that level of perfection. It’s just fantastic and I so appreciate anyone who makes themselves into that much of a master of their craft. I really love it.”
Reporting by NTD and Jennifer Tseng.
