Falun Dafa practitioners from Southeast Queensland introduced the practice of
Falun Dafa to the local community with a spectacular hour and a half presentation
including exercises, beautiful songs and traditional dance at Caloundra City’s
‘Australia Day’ celebrations, 26 January 2004.
The event began with recognition of our national day by Local, State and Federal
officials and dignitaries. The Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia,
His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC and Her Excellency Mrs
Marlena Jeffery were also present. The Governor General kindly spent time meeting
people and graciously accepted some information on Falun Dafa.
Participating in the event proved a wonderful way to commemorate Australia’s
multicultural heritage and introduce our peaceful practice to more people within
our community. We had a stall displaying many photos of the beauty of Falun
Dafa and its practise worldwide. The five gentle and peaceful exercises were
demonstrated throughout the day and many brochures were handed out. Our banner
“Falun Dafa Around the World” encapsulated our multicultural theme
for the day, highlighting the fact that people of all different cultures and
backgrounds now practise Falun Dafa in over 60 countries.
In the afternoon, practitioners performed the 5 exercises on the main stage
and a selection of colourful and vibrant dances, including the spectacular Ribbon
Dance, the Fan Dance and the graceful Lotus Flower Dance. The weather during
the day was extremely hot, humid and sunny, however, just prior to our performance,
it became overcast and cooler, providing a refreshing change for people to come
over to sit in front of the large outdoor stage to enjoy our presentation.
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| Three members of “Returning” | Exercise demo | The beautiful Fan Dance |
Sharing the stage was our Queensland singing ensemble of Western practitioners,
“Returning”, who performed only last weekend in New York as part of
the Inaugural Chinese New Year Gala event, which was broadcast to an estimated
50 million people throughout Australia, North America, Europe and Asia by New
Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV). It was an honour to have them back home to
perform at this ‘Australia Day’ event.
After coming across practitioners at our Falun Dafa stall, a local TV news
cameraman became quite interested in Falun Dafa and especially returned some
hours later to film our stage performances in the afternoon. Throughout the
day, people were keen to receive further information about Falun Dafa, and many
asked where they could learn the exercises. The beauty and splendour of Falun
Dafa certainly touched the hearts of many people during this day of celebration.
Posting date: 1/Feb/2004
Original article date: 31/Jan/2004
Category: Australian News
