GOLD COAST, Australia—After attending Shen Yun Performing Arts for the first time on Feb. 26, retired neurosurgeon Robert Thumm said the experience was “very, very uplifting.”
“It was very precise, there wasn’t a hair out of place,” he said after the matinee at the HOTA Home of the Arts.
“It was very accurate. The stories were very interesting. I found it heartwarming to [experience] the 5,000-year tradition of the dance. It’s just been very, very all-inclusive—wonderful costumes, beautiful dancers—so athletic in their performances.”
Mr. Thumm’s wife, Janet, a retired business owner, also said the performance was “fantastic.”
Mr. Thumm chimed in that it was “something we’ve never seen before.”
“Very, very clever,” he reiterated. “It was so expertly done when they jumped from reality into the imaginary film behind. Very, very good. Very well done.”
Reflecting on the company’s mission to bring back traditional Chinese culture and moral values that were forced to the brink of extinction by decades of communist rule, Mr. Thumm said, “It should certainly be brought back and maintained.”
“I think it’s very important that those beautiful old traditions,” he commented. “Especially where we are thinking about harmony and contemplation and patience, and all of those things that belong to a wonderful way of life—that should be preserved.”
“Sincere congratulations for bringing these important messages to us here, to the world,” he said.
When asked whether he would recommend Shen Yun to others, his response was unequivocal: “Absolutely, absolutely. You must come and see it.”
