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Australia: Canberra Politician Gives Rousing Speech About Shen Yun Performing Arts (Photos)

March 30, 2009 |   Compiled by Clearwisdom staff

(Clearwisdom.net) The capital city of Australia is the first in the country to host the Shen Yun Performing Arts Company in 2009. With the first performance at 2:00 pm. on Sunday March 29, the show again brought in a packed house.

The youngest politician in Canberra, Alistair Coe, attended Shen Yun at the Canberra Theater. After the show, he gave a rousing speech about Shen Yun at the VIP reception.

Youngest politician in Canberra, Mr. Alistair Coe

"It's going very well, very enjoyable," he said. "All the performances were very good. All the colors, all the activities and the enthusiasm, it's fantastic. I think the costumes are fantastic, the colors and the fact there are so many scenes that are completely different--I think it adds life to the show. I do enjoy the theater, so this production hit right down the valley."

Mr. Coe is the Australian Liberal Party Shadow Minister for Urban Services and several other portfolios in the Australian Capital Territory. He brought a friend along to the show with him, saying "Well I heard a lot of people say it's a spectacular event, so we came along with many expectations."

His friend Kath shared her thoughts, "I really liked the costumes in Dance of the Yi, I thought they were fantastic. Because there were no words, but a lot of emotions and feeling you can get from witnessing it and enjoying it. It's nice and colorful."

Art critic Ms. Helen Musa says she has taken a keen interest in the development of Shen Yun over the years, as she attended the show for the second time at the Canberra Theater. "This year, I have noticed there are quite a lot of ethnic components," she said. "Say the Tibetan, and the Southern Yi, and the Mongolian--that was a little bit different."

Art critic Ms. Helen Musa

Ms. Musa has written several articles on the show before, and has had material on the show published in The Canberra Times--the city's largest broadsheet daily, Capital Magazine--an arts and culture magazine, and City News--a lifestyle magazine. She used to work for The Canberra Times, but now freelances and has permanent columns in the latter two publications.

"The other thing I thought very interesting this year is the introduction of a bit of humor," she commented, "There was the Monkey King, of course, and even a little bit of Li Bai [a famous Chinese poet]. There's also the monk's abduction of the bride [Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride]," she said.

Speaking of the latter, she said, "The first half is a bit funny, and of course it has a serious ending. I think that's good, because you have to introduce a bit of light and shade. It's coming along nicely, very well." She said one of her colleagues at The Canberra Times is writing a review of the show tonight.

Two women had driven down from Goulbourn, over an hour away, after hearing about the show. They said it was "absolutely superb," and were delighted they'd gone to the trouble to attend.

One woman who worked in security, and whose daughter lives in Hong Kong, said she also loved the show. She had bought one of the most expensive tickets, commenting that she was a little hesitant doing so, and would not normally spend so much money on a performing arts show. In the end, she said, it was "absolutely beautiful," and she loved every minute of it. She said she's very glad she paid for a top-notch seat.

Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/14426/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/14429/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/14419/