The Chinese Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe successfully premiered at the prestigious Sydney Opera House on Sunday night at the start of a two-week tour of Australia.

The show "My Dream" provided the audience with a unique opportunity to experience the wonder of this distinctive performing arts group. The most impressive piece was the breathtaking "Thousand Hand Bodhisattva," the dance of 1,000 hands, by a chorus of hearing-impaired performers.

Box office revenue from the debut night has been donated to the Australian Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children.

The troupe will also visit Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.

"I am sure the tour will be as successful as the performance at the Sydney Opera House," said Brian Pilbeam, president of Telstra Asia, sponsors of the tour.

"They will not only attract the Chinese community in Australia but also the Aussies.

"Their extraordinary performance has further demonstrated that disability does not mean a lack of ability. They show that so many people with disabilities also have special abilities many able-bodied people admire and wish they could also have."

Established in 1987, the Chinese Disabled Peoples' Performing Art Troupe has 30 members with an average age of 23. In the last 18 years they have toured throughout China and in more than 40 countries including Poland, Denmark, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan and now Australia.

Besides the Sydney Opera House they have graced the stages of such world-renowned venues as La Scala in Italy, the John F. Kennedy Centre and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Last September, the dance of the "Thousand Hand Bodhisattva" performed by the ensemble's hearing-impaired dancers amazed the world at the closing ceremony of the Athens Paralympics.

Telstra has a long history of working closely with the disabled community in Australia. They hold this sector of society in high regard and demonstrate this through their specially-designed products and services and close consultation and support over many years.

(China Daily September 27, 2005)