MELBOURNE, Australia—George and Amina Andrikopoulos, owners of Ripe Café, were so impressed by Shen Yun Performing Arts that they wanted to see more.
The couple attended the final performance of Shen Yun with their daughter at the Melbourne Arts Centre, State Theatre on Feb. 24. For Mr. Andrikopoulos, every act throughout the performance reached perfection.
While watching Shen Yun he felt “Excited! I want to see more,” he said. “I think every act was a great performance for me, it was like ten out of ten.”
New York-based Shen Yun is in its tenth year of worldwide touring. According to their website “Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture.”
Mr. Andrikopoulos applauded Shen Yun’s mission to revive traditional Chinese Culture, and having the company come to Australia.
Similarly, Mrs. Andrikopoulos appreciated the revival of traditional culture. In particular she was inspired by how Shen Yun brought spirituality to the forefront.
“At the end of the day, we all believe in the same thing and it pretty much has the same theme as what my beliefs are, even though it’s practiced differently if that makes sense,” she said.
Since the Cultural Revolution the Chinese regime has tried to suppress traditional culture and the freedom of belief—most recently the regime’s persecution of Falun Dafa, an ancient spiritual discipline and meditation practice centred on truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.
In particular, Mrs. Andrikopoulos was intrigued by the piece titled ‘Monks and the Red Guards.’ The piece is based in the 1960’s during the Cultural Revolution, where the Chinese Communist Party aimed to destroy traditional beliefs. But the Red Guards, a faction of teenagers sent to enforce this rule, were challenged by a group of monks with supernormal abilities.
The couple both expressed how unfortunate they felt for the people of China who don’t have the freedom of belief.
“It’s a real shame that people in China can’t see this … it’s a real shame that people don’t have that freedom,” Mrs. Andrikopoulos added.
Mrs. Andrikopoulos regretted not seeing Shen Yun earlier, so she could have brought her parents and more people to come and experience the magic. “I'd definitely watch it again,” she said.
Nestled in the hills of Mt. Dandenong Ripe Café is a cosy eatery specialising in fine local produce. Jams, honey, cheese, ice cream, venison and buffalo are some of the gourmet goodies which can be purchased there.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
