BRISBANE, Australia—For Dr. Nora Amath, who works in Muslim community development, Shen Yun Performing Arts was a feast for all the senses---although she couldn’t taste it, she had felt it was harmonising all elements when she experienced Shen Yun at the Lyric Theatre on Feb. 27.
“Mesmerising, I feel like this is the feast of all these different senses,” she said.
“The sight! It is quite a visual sight in terms of the costumes and the colours. Definitely a feast for the eyes. Definitely a feast for the eyes, also a feast for the stillness of your heart.”
New York-based Shen Yun’s mission is to revive the traditional Chinese culture, and along the way it has touched the hearts of many.
“Sophisticated dance techniques, an orchestra joining instruments from both the East and West, beautiful costumes, and a stunning back drop,” according to the website.
“Digging deeper, one discovers a sea of traditional Chinese culture. Mortals and divine beings merge on stage as one. Principles such as benevolence and justice, propriety and wisdom, respect for the heavens, and divine retribution, all come to life, washing over the audience.”
It was certainly so for Ms. Amarth.
She felt Shen Yun encompasses one with love and harmony; she feels these are essential in the world today.
“Everything is in sync … it’s quite stunning,” she said. “You can see the dedication and harmony. It just sort of creeps into you and envelopes you and embraces you,” she said.
“You are so mesmerised by everything, I think that you are able to lower your guard and just feel and embrace whatever is happening at that time. You just literally embrace all of it.”
Ms. Amarth wears many hats, working in many groups and fields to bring harmony as well.
She is the chairperson of the Australian Muslim Advocates for the Rights of All Humanity, secretary of humanitarian aid for an organisation called IWAQ Islamic Relief Australia, works with a women’s association for community action called Believing Women for a Culture of Peace, works with the Al-Nisa' Youth Group and the Islamic School of Brisbane’s School and Parent Advisory Committee, is a member of the Muslim Community Reference Group to the State Government, and she is an academic and author.
She said she related to the idea of creation she saw Shen Yun depict.
“The creator, through movement and through music harmonising all of that. There’s an aesthetics to the worship that is absolutely beautiful … I love the fact that you celebrate or worship.”
“You could understand that relationship between creation and Creator. I thought that was quite beautiful and the fact that in terms of anybody watching it … if you believe in the Creator … you could relate to being a creation of the Creator,” she said, regardless of ethnic group or nationality.
From Shen Yun, she felt “divine inspiration or divine guidance or divine worship that was one of beauty, one of harmony and one of celebration.”
China was once known as the Divine Land, where deities and mortals coexisted, and a belief that the divine transmitted a rich culture to the people of the earth.
Ms. Amarth plays many roles and advocates for freedom of belief and religious dialogue. She and her family have personally suffered religious persecution, fleeing their home.
She saw a parallel in Chinese society that Shen Yun brought to light.
As Shen Yun states on its website: “Over its past 60 years of rule, the communist regime has treated traditional Chinese values centered on the idea of harmony between heaven and earth as a threat to its existence.”
She appreciated the dance story depicting the present day persecution of Falun Gong, a peaceful mediation practice, in China. She said it was important to have freedom of belief, “freedom to worship, their freedom to just be, their freedom to understand themselves in relation to the divine.”
She said everyone around the world would resonate with that.
Reporting by Daniel Teng and Leigh Smith
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.
