What Is Going On with Shen Yun? What to Know In regards to the Controversial Dance Grouptheinsiderinsight

There’s greater than what meets the attention on the subject 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 commercials posted all over the world, former performers began talking out extra vocally in 2024, accusing the dance group of an abusive atmosphere behind the scenes.

In response to a number of the accusations that surfaced in November 2024, Shen Yun’s representatives launched a press release sustaining that college students’ participation is absolutely voluntary.

“Certain, some folks go away as a result of it isn’t for them, and that is completely high-quality,” the assertion learn, per The New York Times. “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 youngsters.”

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 lovely artwork,” per the group’s website.

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 one in all 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 grow to be a money-maker for Falun Gong, per The Daily, which additionally shared that tax information present that the group has $266 million in property and makes effectively over $10 million a yr 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 celebration, ceaselessly internet hosting protests within the streets of Hong Kong in opposition to the federal government.

Shen Yun describes Falun Dafa on their website as a “mind-body follow guided by the ideas of reality, compassion, and forbearance.”

“They meditate collectively, research teachings collectively, and imagine that cultivating the guts is the best way to create artwork that’s really elegant,” the positioning reads.

It is not uncommon follow for Shen Yun performers to meditate backstage earlier than a present, particularly drawing inspiration from Falun Dafa’s teachings, self-discipline and steering, per the group’s website.

“For our performers, practising Falun Dafa is extra than simply meditation,” the positioning reads. “It’s a frame of mind that guides every 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 shouldn’t be allowed to carry out in China attributable to its affiliation with Falun Gong, which can be anti-communist, per AP News.

As detailed on the dance group’s web site, Shen Yun makes varied references to “Dafa” all through its reveals, together with a dance that tells the story of China’s persecution of those that follow it.

In response to 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 practising the motion’s beliefs because it was banned, with supporters exterior China claiming that 2,000 folks have died in custody since 1999.

What has Shen Yun been accused of?

In August 2024, The New York Occasions revealed an investigation into the performing arts group, revealing that lots of its performers had claimed to be working below abusive circumstances for years.

In response to the outlet, performers had been routinely discouraged from searching for take care of accidents, as Hongzhi pushed the message that his teachings may expel sicknesses from their our bodies with out medical therapy.

Some performers informed the outlet that once they obtained sick or injured, instructors led them to imagine one thing was incorrect with their non secular state, per the outlet. In the meantime, others danced by way of dislocated kneecaps and sprained ankles as a method to keep away from being labeled as untrue to Hongzhi, who they had been taught to see as a residing 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 reveals a yr, some performers of their mid-20s had been being paid $12,000 or much less, per The New York Occasions. Shen Yun representatives claimed that their dancers had been paid a legally allowed quantity that was consistent with trade requirements.

Moreover, some former Shen Yun performers detailed experiencing an environment of concern, together with being subjected to emotional abuse and manipulation.

Why was there a lawsuit in opposition to Shen Yun?

A number of months after the preliminary accusations from The New York Occasions, 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 youngsters to work for little to no pay, and stated in a press release that she is suing to “be certain that no youngsters undergo what I went by way of,” per the outlet.

In response to The New York Occasions, Chun-Ko described Shen Yun as a “pressured 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 techniques for instilling obedience, together with confiscating their passports, chopping them off from the surface 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 periods, per The New York Occasions.

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 techniques allegedly embody limiting who the individuals are allowed to contact, monitoring their calls and private diary entries and even preserving them contained in the headquarters by armed guards, per the outlet.

The lawsuit is searching for an unspecified quantity in damages.