It’s been two months since we started our 2011 world tour, and we’ve already been to thirteen cities, four countries, and three continents. Right now, we—Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company—are in Canberra, Australia’s capital.

We just finished two weeks of shows in Sydney’s Capitol Theatre. The theater (yes, that’s how we Americans spell it), the city, and the audiences were all pretty good. One special thing about Sydney, though, besides the fact that we have two weeks of shows here, is that it concludes the first half of our tour.

Looking back on the last two months makes me truly feel the implications of the saying “time flies.” It really seems like only yesterday when we finished our first show of the season in Omaha, Nebraska (sounds cliché, but it’s true...), and then WHAM! We’re in Australia already. Next thing you know, I’ll be flying back to New York from Japan (our last stop) and thinking, “Where’d the last four months go?”

Recently, our orchestra had a concert as a sort of “tour’s halfway over; let’s see everyone play” event, in which people went up individually to play before an audience that consisted of the rest of the orchestra plus various other members of Shen Yun International Company. While we perform on a nearly daily basis for much larger audiences all around the world, there is something pretty nerve-wracking about standing at the front of the room with everyone staring and pointing video cameras at you... not to mention that your instrument is the only sound in the room.

One thing about being in the orchestra is that audience members usually don’t look at you. Of course, at the end of the show, people do look into the pit and say “Thank you” or “Good job,” but the audience members’ attention is usually on the stage. Unlike dancers, who perform for people to watch, we perform for people to listen, so it’s understandable that we’re not that used to people watching us play. Also, as an orchestra, we perform as a whole, so we are unaccustomed to playing solos.

After our two shows in Canberra, it’s good-bye Australia and off to Taiwan for Shen Yun International Company, which will make the grand total of places we’ve been to so far this year... fourteen cities and five countries (but still three continents).

March 10, 2011