There’s greater than what meets the attention in the case of the Shen Yun Performing Arts group.
Based in 2006, the dance group advertises itself as a celebration of China’s tradition and heritage that brings performers from all around the world to coach in New York earlier than touring globally.
Whereas Shen Yun seems sleek and colourful on the prolific quantity of billboards and ads posted around the globe, former performers began talking out extra vocally in 2024, accusing the dance group of an abusive atmosphere behind the scenes.
In response to a few of the accusations that surfaced in November 2024, Shen Yun’s representatives launched an announcement sustaining that college students’ participation is totally voluntary.
“Certain, some individuals depart as a result of it is not for them, and that is completely effective,” the assertion learn, per The New York Instances. “However the overwhelming majority of scholars will inform you that is their dream come true, and the mother and father rave in regards to the optimistic modifications of their kids.”
So, what are the allegations being leveled in opposition to Shen Yun? Here is every part to know in regards to the controversial dance group and the accusations made in opposition to them.
What’s Shen Yun?
Shen Yun is a classical Chinese language dance firm that focuses on “bringing to life a misplaced tradition by way of stunning artwork,” per the group’s web site.
With vibrant costumes and backdrops, the performances inform a narrative of the “magnificence and goodness of China earlier than communism,” per the web site.
However, the group is extra than simply an entertaining efficiency. Religious chief and the founding father of Falun Gong, a non secular motion, Li Hongzhi is considered one of Shen Yun’s co-creators, co-created the present to assist amplify the beliefs of the faith.
Though the dance group is registered as a non-profit group, it has change into a money-maker for Falun Gong, per The Each day, which additionally shared that tax information present that the group has $266 million in belongings and makes effectively over $10 million a 12 months in ticket gross sales.
What’s Falun Gong?
Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is a non secular motion that emerged in China within the early Nineteen Nineties, per CNN. Led by Hongzhi, the spiritual sect was additionally created in opposition to the Chinese language communist occasion, regularly internet hosting protests within the streets of Hong Kong in opposition to the federal government.
Shen Yun describes Falun Dafa on their web site as a “mind-body follow guided by the rules of fact, compassion, and forbearance.”
“They meditate collectively, examine teachings collectively, and consider that cultivating the guts is the best way to create artwork that’s actually chic,” the location reads.
It’s common follow for Shen Yun performers to meditate backstage earlier than a present, particularly drawing inspiration from Falun Dafa’s teachings, self-discipline and steerage, per the group’s web site.
“For our performers, training Falun Dafa is extra than simply meditation,” the location reads. “It’s a way of thinking that guides day by day life, oriented towards self-betterment, taking duty, and placing others first.”
Why is Shen Yun not allowed to carry out in China?
Regardless of promoting itself as a celebration of Chinese language tradition, Shen Yun just isn’t allowed to carry out in China because of its affiliation with Falun Gong, which can be anti-communist, per AP Information.
As detailed on the dance group’s web site, Shen Yun makes numerous references to “Dafa” all through its exhibits, together with a dance that tells the story of China’s persecution of those that follow it.
In accordance with CNN, Falun Gong was banned and suppressed from China in 1999. The Guardian reported in July 2009 that Falun Gong members had been persecuted for training the motion’s beliefs because it was banned, with supporters exterior China claiming that 2,000 individuals have died in custody since 1999.
What has Shen Yun been accused of?
In August 2024, The New York Instances printed an investigation into the performing arts group, revealing that lots of its performers had claimed to be working below abusive circumstances for years.
In accordance with the outlet, performers have been routinely discouraged from looking for take care of accidents, as Hongzhi pushed the message that his teachings may expel diseases from their our bodies with out medical therapy.
Some performers informed the outlet that after they obtained sick or injured, instructors led them to consider one thing was unsuitable with their non secular state, per the outlet. In the meantime, others danced by way of dislocated kneecaps and sprained ankles as a strategy to keep away from being labeled as untrue to Hongzhi, who they have been taught to see as a dwelling god and creator of the universe.
Representatives of Shen Yun and Falun Gong denied the allegations to the outlet, claiming that performers who obtained harm didn’t go with out medical care.
Dancers additionally alleged they labored lengthy hours for little to no pay. For instance, regardless of performing greater than 800 exhibits a 12 months, some performers of their mid-20s have been being paid $12,000 or much less, per The New York Instances. Shen Yun representatives claimed that their dancers have been paid a legally allowed quantity that was in line with trade requirements.
Moreover, some former Shen Yun performers detailed experiencing an environment of worry, together with being subjected to emotional abuse and manipulation.
Why was there a lawsuit in opposition to Shen Yun?
Just a few months after the preliminary accusations from The New York Instances, the outlet reported that one of many cited performers, Chang Chun-Ko, filed a lawsuit in opposition to the group.
She accused Shen Yun and its leaders of trafficking susceptible kids to work for little to no pay, and stated in an announcement that she is suing to “make sure that no kids undergo what I went by way of,” per the outlet.
In accordance with The New York Instances, Chun-Ko described Shen Yun as a “compelled labor enterprise” that has exploited underage dancers by way of threats and public shaming — and amassed thousands and thousands of {dollars} within the course of.
The lawsuit describes Shen Yun’s alleged ways for instilling obedience, together with confiscating their passports, slicing them off from the skin media, denouncing them as Chinese language authorities spies in the event that they query the group’s practices and placing those that insurgent by way of public critique classes, per The New York Instances.
Chun-Ko’s lawsuit additionally particulars the alleged “system of coercion and management” that takes over “each side” of the performers’ — who typically arrive to coach within the group’s New York headquarters as younger teenagers with no connections within the U.S. — lives.
Its ways allegedly embrace limiting who the individuals are allowed to contact, monitoring their calls and private diary entries and even retaining them contained in the headquarters by armed guards, per the outlet.
The lawsuit is looking for an unspecified quantity in damages.
