SYDNEY—Vina Lee, the Chinese-Australian manager of the Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company, says it would be a “tragedy” if Australians were to be bullied into avoiding Shen Yun or any other company while it is touring Australia.
Ms. Lee, a former principal dancer with the Guangdong Dance Theatre, and later an open class teacher with the Sydney Dance Company, was commenting on reports that the Chinese Consulate had sent letters to a number of government officials, organisations, and even schools, in an attempt to dissuade them from seeing Shen Yun.
“As Australians, why do we have to listen to someone else to tell us what to do. This is not the Australian style. This is not our way of life.
“I really think if Australians change to listen to Chinese authorities telling them what to do, then I really feel that this is a true tragedy.”
Ms. Lee said the Shen Yun Performing Arts company had never been interfered with directly by Chinese regime operatives, but venues and organisations had. She described instances in America, Europe and Australia where theatre management had received calls from Chinese Consulate officials who had endeavoured to bully theatres out of hosting the New York-based company.
“They never stop using any kind of a way to try and stop people watching the show, but it is really up to our society to really rethink who is telling us what to do,” she said.
Shen Yun’s mission is to revive traditional Chinese culture, which includes the belief that humans and the divine are intertwined, the Shen Yun website says. Ms. Lee said that having the freedom to really explore her own culture and the heritage of Chinese people had been a huge awakening.
“I think the most terrible thing in life is that you are living in some kind of environment that you didn’t know you were living in, that you were brainwashed,” she said. “But when you realise, you have this mind to rethink and you have the freedom to do whatever you need to do … I found that traditional Chinese culture actually had a lot of different answers and different perspectives.”
Speaking on behalf of her fellow performers and principal artists, Ms. Lee said that their discovery of true Chinese culture had given them a depth of understanding they had not experienced before.
“We found a lot of history and a lot of beautiful stories that are giving people some kind of hint or enlightenment; to understand that life is more than living day-by-day,” she said.
Through this learning process, she said they were discovering the universality of Chinese culture and seeing that manifest as the company and its art form developed.
“We performed 10 shows there this year, and have been invited back next year,” she said.
“This is not just a great Chinese show anymore, it is universal.”
Ms. Lee said it was the universality of Chinese culture presented by Shen Yun that was most threatening to the Chinese communist regime.
“They don’t believe in these principles and so when people are showing these kinds of principles and reviving this kind of culture, it is a big contrast,” she said.
She said it was an insult to theatres in Australia and around the world to try and influence their choice of performances, saying that theatre managers were wise enough to make their own judgments about which shows to host or not.
The best test, however, was for people to come and see Shen Yun for themselves.
“Come and see the show, that is the best,” she said. “It is beautiful; decide for yourself.”
