(Clearwisdom.net) On February 8, 2011, Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company appeared at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia and received a warm reception and enthusiastic applause from the audience.

On February 10, Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company appeared at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia

Recently, the Chinese Consulate in Sydney sent out an announcement defaming Shen Yun Performing Arts to embassies in Australia. The Chinese Consulate also requested Chinese parents to ask school principals and teachers to cancel tickets they had purchased. The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) attempt to use the consulate to interfere with the Shen Yun show in Sydney was not successful. Many teachers and students came to watch the show and said they would introduce Shen Yun to more people and organize more students to watch it.

Teachers watch Shen Yun and praise its educational value

Graeme Frauenfelder is a teacher of teachers in the subject of creativity and learning at the University of Western Sydney. He lives in northern Sydney, and had seen Shen Yun promotions for the past three or four years but had never seen the show. This year he came to Sydney for the Chinese New Year and again saw the posters, and this time, he decided to go. Saturday happened to be his father’s 82nd birthday and so his father and mother joined him in Sydney “for a very special experience.”

“It’s very professional,” Mr. Frauenfelder said of Shen Yun. “They are all so good.” New York-based Shen Yun brings China’s 5,000-year-old traditional culture to the stage with ancient legends and modern tales portrayed through classical Chinese, and folk and ethnic dance.

“I can actually get a sense of the history and the story, and the spirit of it all,” Mr. Frauenfelder said. He was impressed with the precision and ability of the dancers, saying, “The technicality of the dancing … how much they have to remember to do everything at the same time ... It’s perfection.”

“There’s that mystical element too, with the characters coming down from the heavens and the mythology. It becomes more than just Chinese dance, there’s spirit and soul. There’s something really deep and special."

He commented that he felt the dancers have it in “their heart and spirit to make the world a better place,” and that they “touched people’s hearts and spirits” with their performance. “I know there’s really depth of meaning and purpose behind it all.”

He explained that even though some performances can be technically beautiful, Shen Yun was not just technically beautiful, but also had “heart and soul as well.” He found this really profound and rare. Mr. Frauenfelder said Shen Yun was definitely worth seeing, and he was looking forward to seeing it again next year, and was pleased to hear that Shen Yun presents a new program each year.

Terry Lidgard, principal of Georges River Grammar in Bankstown, was thrilled to see Shen Yun at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney on Feb. 10.

“I like the colour, I like the stories. I think it’s very entertaining and I’m enjoying myself,” he said. “It’s very good to get different cultural experiences, and this is a cultural experience that I’m very pleased about.”

As the principal of one of the largest Anglican Schools in Bankstown, Mr. Lidgard could relate to the playful antics of the young monks in the performance The Little Mischievous Monks, saying, “I thought it was very entertaining--the monks’ scene, I thought, was very good.”

There were many aspects of Shen Yun that impressed Mr. Lidgard, including “the range of colours because it’s so eye catching,” and also the “excellent" costumes and the lighting. "That adds to it,” he said. Mr. Lidgard said Shen Yun had been “a very lively experience and very, very entertaining.”

Scholar of Sociology: CCP’s nature determines its need to defame beauty and kindness

Dr. Xiaohui Lin, a scholar of sociology, religions and Qigong at the University of Technology in Sydney, said, “The CCP’s interference to the Shen Yun show is not a surprise, as the CCP is an evil organization that has destroyed many good and righteous things in China. Shen Yun presents traditional Chinese culture. Thus, the CCP fears Shen Yun and uses lies and deception and other means to interfere with the Shen Yun show.”

Dr. Lin continued, “The CCP’s uses indirect but despicable methods to exert pressure on schools and defame the Shen Yun show. I heard feedback from many audience members saying Shen Yun plays an incomparable role in purifying people’s minds, uplifting moral values and promoting Chinese traditional culture. No other shows can have such an effect. Those who saw the show expressed they were deeply touched. On the other hand, the CCP defames beautiful, kind and good things. This is determined by its nature.”

He said the Shen Yun shows let a Western audience experience Eastern culture and the essence of its art and has educational value for students. Shen Yun lets audience know about Chinese traditional culture's profound connotations. Righteous culture and art are common treasure of human beings and should be promoted.

Scholar in Queensland: The CCP’s defamation of Shen Yun is counterproductive

Mr. Chuiliang Qiu, professor of Politics at the University of Queensland and visiting professor at the Southeast Institute of Dan Jiang University, said that the CCP’s defamation is nonsense and absurd. He said, “It is obvious that CCP exerts pressures everywhere and interferes with the Shen Yun show. City council members, provincial parliament members and federal parliament members received letters from the Chinese consulate asking them not to watch Shen Yun. It was political pressure and had nothing to do with the show itself.”

“The Shen Yun show presents the essence of Chinese traditional culture. Watching Shen Yun helps us to understand Chinese culture. Letting students watch Shen Yun is a good thing.”

He thought that the CCP’s pressure stimulated people’s interests to watch Shen Yun. He said, “I have some friends in political circles. They did not have time to watch the show or did not have much interest in Chinese culture. But because of the CCP’s pressure, they wanted to watch the show. The CCP is just stupid. Such acts are always counterproductive. As a result, more people are interested in Shen Yun. The CCP’s behavior in a free country arouses people’s interest in Shen Yun and antipathy to CCP.”

He concluded, “The CCP government is stupid and can only do stupid things.”

The CCP interferes with schools and teachers

With regard to the CCP’s interference with students and their parents, Dr. Lucy Zhao, Director of New South Wales Falun Dafa Association, one of the hosting organizations of the Shen Yun Show in Sydney said, “Some teachers said that they were told not to watch the show. Otherwise their ability to return to China could be affected. Someone even proposed that people get permission from the Chinese Consulate.”

She continued, “Some teachers felt strange after hearing the news. Why do they need to ask the Consulate's permission to do things in Australia? They did not care.” “On the afternoon of February 16, more than 100 students led by teachers from three schools came to watch Shen Yun. After the show, they felt great and came to know more about Chinese traditional culture and history. Teachers said that they would organize more students to watch the show in the future. It is a matter of pride for the Chinese people.”