A Blaxland teenager will showcase traditional Chinese culture at Sydney’s Capital Theatre next month when she performs with an internationally acclaimed performing arts company.
Fifteen-year-old Erin Battrick is a dancer with Shen Yun Performing Arts which has been staging traditional Chinese classical dance and music performances around the world since 2007.
The company will perform two shows in Sydney on February 11 and 12, fresh from a serious of dates in the United States.
No audience member will be prouder than Erin’s mother, Maylu Battrick, when the troupe takes to the Capital Theatre stage.
“I know everyone in the company trains very hard and they all do well but I still always look at my daughter (on stage) — she’s special for me,” she said.
Erin fell in love with the Shen Yun performers as a nine-year-old when she saw a concert with her mother and instantly wanted to join the company.
“She loved it and she wanted to join the company but she was too young and not tall enough,” said Mrs Battrick.
The Blaxland High School student was eventually accepted into Shen Yun when she turned 12 and has toured internationally with them since.
With a mission to revive 5000 years of Chinese culture, Shen Yun dancers and musicians perform traditional artforms that have been supressed in China since the Cultural Revolution.
The visually stunning show has won acclaim from critics and fans around the world, including Australian actress Cate Blanchett who saw the show with her family last year.
“It was an extraordinary experience for us and the children,” she said.
“The level of skill, but also the power of the archetypes and the narratives were startling.”
Erin’s mother, who was a gymnast in China before moving to the West, said audiences will be impressed by the show.
“When people go to see the show they can see this very pure and beautiful (aspect of China) . . . I can see why this company wants the world to know how beautiful the traditional Chinese culture is,” she said.
