MELBOURNE, Australia—For Tab and Eva Fried, Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Art Centre Melbourne, State Theatre on Feb. 23 was amazing.
Tab and Eva Fried are two of Melbourne’s most influential property developers. One of their properties is Melbourne’s Eureka Tower, one of the city’s most exclusive and expensive buildings, a 300-metre skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct. It was the world’s tallest residential tower, until it was surpassed by a tower in Dubai. The observation deck (Eureka Skydeck 88) occupies the entire 88th floor of the Eureka Tower and is the highest public vantage point in a building in the Southern Hemisphere.
Based in New York, Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance and music company. The performances are completely new each year and blend a variety of aspects to bring traditional Chinese culture to life.
“Sophisticated dance techniques, an orchestra joining instruments from both the East and West, beautiful costumes, and a stunning back drop—this is Shen Yun at first glance,” the website states.
“But 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.”
And the Frieds just loved the many facets of Shen Yun’s performance.
Mrs. Fried said, “Incredible---incredible costumes, and the choreography, and the scenery: photography was incredible. It was wonderful, really wonderful.”
Mr. Fried agreed saying, “It’s amazing! The talent is just amazing. Technology is clever, very clever.
State-of-the-art digitally animated backdrops add to the entertainment of the audience. “Shen Yun’s digital-backdrop team creates vividly animated settings, extending the stage and transporting the audience to a world where heaven and earth are one,” the website states.
Ms. Fried said “it was amazing, very, very clever.”
Mr. Fried added, “It was stunning. I don’t know how they did it, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He said the music was different but beautiful.
Shen Yun has a blended orchestra of traditional Chinese and classical Western instruments playing original scores adding an extra dimension to the performance. Shen Yun also has solo performances, and the Frieds both loved the solo erhu performance by Linda Wang.
“Very, very talented,” Mrs. Fried said of Ms. Wang. Mr. Fried added, “very, very clever.”
“It’s very emotional, the whole performance is. [It] is really quite beautiful,” Mrs. Fried said.
They both appreciated the glimpse into China’s millennia of culture and history, and felt they learned a lot and were touched by the performance.
Mr. Fried felt Shen Yun gave hope to humanity.
Mr. Fried added, “Invigorating, informative and gives you a warm feeling of talent. In the murky world that we live in, with all the things that happen, the ugly things, this gives you a lift; it’s hope.”
Reporting by Mike Dang 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.
