SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Therapist Says Shen Yun Helps Restore Humanity’s Connection with the Divine

Mar 07, 2026

3/7/2026Updated: 3/8/2026

MELBOURNE, Australia—“The message is one of love,” said therapist and counsellor Anthony O’Loughlin after watching Shen Yun on March 6. “Love is the emptying of the self and the restoration of our connection to the Divine. Especially in these times, the more this message can be spread across cultures and around the world, the better,” he said.

Mr. O’Loughlin attended the opening performance of Shen Yun at the Plenary Theatre of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre with his wife, Andrea O’Loughlin. The couple felt the performance conveyed not only artistic beauty but also a message of compassion and spiritual renewal.

Reflecting on the performance’s finale, which portrays the Creator descending to save humanity, Mr. O’Loughlin said the message resonated clearly.

“Everyone got the message in the end,” he said.

Ms. O’Loughlin shared a similar sentiment, saying, “There was a real story there, wasn’t there?”

Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. Since its founding in 2006, Shen Yun has grown from one to eight equally sized companies, bringing the divinely inspired traditional Chinese culture to nearly 1 million audiences worldwide each year.

Ms. O’Loughlin believes the spiritual themes presented in Shen Yun are especially important in today’s world.

“To have a spiritual side is very, very important—not just to be secular, but to have something that you believe in,” she said. “We should all know that we’re going somewhere bigger than ourselves—for eternity.”

The couple also found the lyrical songs in the performance deeply meaningful. “It was about bringing us back to the Divine,” Mr. O’Loughlin said.

Ms. O’Loughlin is a professional classical pianist and singer. From a musician’s perspective, she spoke highly of Shen Yun’s music.

“It was absolutely beautiful. I loved it,” she said. “The highlight for me was seeing the Asian string instrument.”

The instrument she referred to is the erhu, a traditional Chinese bowed string instrument with two strings, known for its expressive range despite its simplicity.

Listening to the music and watching the dances, Ms. O’Loughlin said she felt transported to another place and time.

“It was almost as if you were transported there, to the country and to a very old tradition,” she said. “When the ladies came out, the movements were very feminine.”

She also admired the dancers’ technical mastery.

“The technique required for those movements must involve a huge amount of practice,” she said. “I can appreciate that because I do a bit of dancing myself.”

Mr. O’Loughlin said one of his favorite pieces was the Mongolian dance.

“I did like the men’s Mongolian dance,” he said. “I like the connections to the Mongolians, and I thought the ladies were beautifully synchronized. Lovely costumes and great choreography.”

In fact, the couple had been waiting several years to see the performance.

“I booked to come and see it in March 2020,” Mr. O’Loughlin said. “Then COVID hit, everything got cancelled, and we were locked down.”

After finally attending the performance, Mr. O’Loughlin said he felt delighted and grateful for the opportunity.

“I’m glad it was done, and I was very happy with it,” he said. “It’s a shame that it’s not able to be performed in China. I was a little surprised by that—but perhaps not surprised in the end. Still, I’m very glad it’s out there.”

Speaking about the company’s efforts to spread traditional values and kindness around the world, Mr. O’Loughlin expressed admiration and gratitude to Shen Yun artists.

“I’d say thank you to the artists, and to the directors—keep it up,” he said.

Ms. O’Loughlin added her own message of appreciation.

“Thank you for sharing your talent and coming to Australia to share it with us,” she said. “We appreciate it.”

Reporting by Lucy Liu and Olivia Li.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.