(Clearwisdom.net)

At the end of August, a dance troupe composed of more than ten Falun Dafa practitioners took part in the Chinese Culture Festival in a city in Canada. We presented two dances produced entirely by Falun Dafa practitioners, "Coming for You," and "Lotus Dance." We also displayed beautiful Tang dynasty costumes along with the music of the Guzheng (an ancient Chinese instrument).

The afternoon that we arrived, we took part in a get-together for the visiting performers sponsored by the city. We visited with the Mayor's Assistant on Chinese Affairs, and for the first time, met with a group of performers from Mainland China. Because we are all Chinese, meeting each other far from our homeland, we connected immediately and talked intimately. But when the performers from Mainland China found out that there were Falun Dafa practitioners among the group, they seemed very tense. However, at the suggestion of the interpreter, "Let's form a big family," we posed together for group photos.

We performed on the same stage twice with the troupe from China, giving them many opportunities to get to know us first hand. The wall between us, created by the Jiang regime's slanderous propaganda, was melting away.

During the first performance, the Chinese troupe requested that their program be completely finished before we could start ours, in order to avoid contact between our group and theirs. But our two dances back to back would leave insufficient time for changing costumes. After we discussed this situation with them, the organizer arranged for one of our dances to come in the middle of their program. As we waited backstage, the Chinese choreographer praised our beautiful costumes. One of our members told him, "The whole program, including the dance movements, music, and costumes were all created by Falun Dafa practitioners." The choreographer lowered his eyes and said, "Don't talk about this. You just believe what you believe inside your heart." Another Falun Dafa practitioner told him quickly, "Don't worry, we are here to perform, just like you."

Before our second dance, our program announcer explained the origin of the Lotus Dance and the great benefits of Falun Dafa. Our performance won round after round of applause. After the performance, the Chinese troupe pressured the organizer, complaining that they would be in trouble if they were to perform together with a Falun Dafa group. The organizer then told us not to introduce Falun Dafa when making announcements and not to display Falun Dafa poster boards.

When we studied the Fa that night, we realized that we had already clarified the facts to the Chinese performing arts troupe that Falun Dafa is welcomed overseas. We broke through Jiang's slanderous lies with our benevolent actions. We understood that we should create further opportunities to let the Chinese people know more about the goodness of Dafa and the evil of the persecution. We would go along with the organizer's request, but we would never forget our purpose to let more people know the truth. Master said, "Everything through the ages, has happened for the Fa" (Just a Play). Master also said, "The old forces don't dare to oppose our clarifying the truth or saving sentient beings. What's key is to not let them take advantage of the gaps in your state of mind when you do things" (Teaching the Fa at the 2002 Fa Conference in Boston). If we do what we should do in a harmonious way, with a pure mind, we will find more opportunities to tell people, "Falun Dafa is great!"

The next day, we came to the performance location with truth-clarifying CDs, Falun Dafa introduction materials, and folded paper lotus flowers. In the evening, the Chinese troupe suddenly changed their program, thus delaying the performance. The organizer asked us to step in and cover in this emergency. When our newly prepared dance, "Coming for You" started, the words of the song proclaimed, "Climbing over a thousand mountains and ten thousands rivers, I come again and again for you, I come because of my compassion towards you. Precious Chinese folks, please hear my song from the bottom of my heart, Falun Dafa is Great! Falun Dafa is Great! Be sure not to be fooled by the lies." I firmly believe that all the Chinese performers who were busy changing their costumes understood this resonating song. Judging from their applause after our dance finished, I knew that they received the message.

With the help of some kind helpers, we gave the truth-clarifying CD to every Chinese performer. We hoped that they would bring back these CDs to China, so that more people there can know the facts.

We realized that we should clarify the truth of Falun Dafa not only to the performing troupe from China, but also to the local people. Because there are not many Falun Dafa practitioners locally, it had been difficult to share the truth of Falun Dafa there. So we very much wanted to use this opportunity.

The last two days' performances were all on an open stage outdoors, and there were many people in the audience. We demonstrated Falun Dafa exercises between performances and presented people with paper lotus flowers. Many in the audience pinned the flowers on their shirts or in their hair. When all the ready-made flowers were given out, people started to learn how to make these flowers themselves. Children and grownups were sitting together, learning to make lotus flowers. After all the paper we brought was gone, people would ask us, "Are you coming tomorrow?"

We bridged the gap between the audience and us through the flower-making. They changed from being simply an audience to becoming active participants. We taught them the technique of folding paper flowers, told them about the inner meaning of these lotus flowers, and talked about the cultivation of Falun Dafa. People were constantly asking for Falun Dafa materials. First one gentleman came to learn the exercises, then quickly the number of people learning Falun Gong made a bigger and bigger circle, finally forming into two circles. It wasn't until we had to go perform indoors that the people who came to learn the exercises finally scattered.

On the last day of our performance, even more people showed up. Many families who had adopted Chinese children came also. Our dancers danced for them, demonstrated the exercises, and taught them how to make paper lotus flowers. A Western gentleman who did acupuncture told me that he saw the energy flowing inside our dancers' bodies.

The organizers worried in the beginning that our performance would upset the Chinese performing arts troupe or even the Chinese Embassy, so they put many restrictions on us. However, after being in contact with us and after seeing how our performance was embraced by the audience, they stopped being worried. Especially when we stepped in during their "emergency," and we added one more day of performance upon their request, they were deeply moved. They were also touched by the harmony between us and the audience during the open stage performances, where we taught people how to make paper flowers and taught them the meditation. Several people who were on the organizing board also came to learn the exercises.

An employee of the organizing body told us that they were very appreciative of our joining the performance, and that they would like to give each of us a gift. The people on the organizing board came over specifically to say goodbye to us and hoped that we would keep in touch with them.