What Is Going On with Shen Yun? All About the Controversy Surrounding the Chinese Dance Group

There is more than what is encountered when it comes to Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Founded in 2006, the dance group advertised as a celebration of Chinese culture and heritage that brings performers from around the world to coach in New York before it is a global tour.

While Shen Yun seems graceful and colorful on the fertile amount of Panoa and advertisements published around the world, former performers began to speak more loudly in 2024, accusing a dance group for abusing the environment behind the scenes.

In response to some of the accusations that appeared in November 2024, representatives of Shen Yuna announced a statement that takes place that the participation of the students is completely voluntary.

“Of course, some leave because it’s not for them, and that’s fine,” said the statement, according to New York Times. “But the vast majority of students will tell you that this is their dream come true, and parents are a horse about positive changes in their children.”

So, what charges are equated against Shen Yuna? Here’s all you have to know about the controversial dance group and accusations against them.

What is shen yun?

Shen Yun, a Chinese dance and music company, performs on March 18, 2016 at Long Beach, California.

Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Shen Yun is a classic Chinese Dance Society that focuses on “Reviving Lost Culture through wonderful art” on the group website.

In addition to vivid costumes and backgrounds, performances tell the story of “Beauty and the Goodness of China Before Communism” on the website.

But the group is more than fun performance. Spiritual leader and founder Falun Gong, a religious movement, whether Hongzhi is one of the co -founders Shen Yuna, which means that the show also enhances the beliefs of religion.

Although the dance group is registered as a non -profit organization, it has become a money earning for Falun Gong, Dailywho also shared that the tax records show that the group has assets of $ 266 million and earns more than $ 10 million annually ticket sales.

What is Falun Gong?

Members of the spiritual movement of Falun Gong hold candles during a vigil with candles on July 19, 2001 in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong/Getty

Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is a religious movement that appeared in China in the early 1990s, by CNN. Under the guidance of Hongzhi, a religious sect was created and contrary to the Chinese Communist Party, often hosting protests on the streets of Hong Kong against the Government.

Shen Yun describes Falun Dafa on their website as “the practice of mind and bodies guided by the principles of truth, compassion and patience.”

“They meditate together, study learning together and believe that breeding hearts is a way of making art that has been truly grown,” the place says.

It is a common practice that Shen Yun performers meditates in Kurulisje before the show, especially drawing on the inspiration from learning, discipline and guidance of Falun Dafa, on the group website.

“For our performers, practicing Falun Dafa is more than mere meditation,” the place says. “It is a state of mind that leads daily life, oriented to self -limit, take over responsibility and put others in the first place.”

Why is Shen Yun not allowed to perform in China?

Protesters Falun Gong gather on September 13, 2006 in London.

John D Mchhugh/AFP via Getty

Despite its advertising as a celebration of Chinese culture, Shen Yun is not allowed to perform in China for its connection with Falun Gong, which is also anti-communist, Per AP News.

As described in detail on Dance Group website, shen Yun, during her shows, various references to Dafa, including a dance that talks about the story of Chinese persecution of those who practice it.

According to CNN, Falun Gong was banned and suppressed from China in 1999. Guard They reported in July 2009 that members of Falun Gong were prosecuted for practicing the belief of movement since it was forbidden, and supporters outside China claimed that 2,000 people had died in custody since 1999.

What did Shen Yun accuse?

Angelia Wang, the main dancer for Shen Yun.

Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

In August 2024, New York Times He has published an investigation into the performance arts, revealing that many of his performers have claimed for years that they have been working in violent conditions.

According to the socket, the performers routinely discouraged from seeking injury care, as Hongzhi pushed the message that his teachings could throw out diseases from their bodies without medical treatment.

Some performers said the sockets that when they had become ill or injured them, the instructors brought them to believe that something was wrong with their spiritual condition, on the way out. In the meantime, others danced through dislocated knees and stretched their ankles as a way to avoid Hongzhi labeled them as unfaithful, whom they learned to see as a living God and the creator of the universe.

Representatives of Shen Yun and Falun Gong denied the charges of exit, claiming that the contractors who were injured did not go without medical care.

The dancers also claimed that they had worked for long hours for a little and no salary. For example, despite performing more than 800 emissions a year, some performers in their mid-20s were paid $ 12,000 or less, according to New York Times. Shen Yuna representatives claimed that their dancers were paid a legally allowed amount that was in accordance with industrial standards.

In addition, some former Shen Yun performers have detailed in detail the atmosphere of fear, including that they have undergone emotional abuse and manipulation.

Why was there a lawsuit against Shen Yuna?

Shen Yun, a Chinese dance and music company, performs on March 18, 2016 at Long Beach, California.

Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Several months after the initial charges from New York Times, Outlet reported that one of the cited performers, Chang Chun-KKo, had filed a groups against the group.

She accused Shen Yun and her leaders of trade vulnerable children to work for a little and no salary, and said in a statement that she was sued to “ensure that no children go through what I went through,” on the way out.

According to New York TimesChun-Ko described Shen Yun as a “forced work company” that exploited minor dancers with threats and public shame and raised millions of dollars in the process.

The lawsuit describes the alleged shen yun tactics for stimulating obedience, including the seizure of their passports, reducing them from the external media, denying them as spies of the Chinese government if they question the practice of organizations and put those who have rebelled through public criticism, by sessions New York Times.

The CHUN-KKO’s lawsuit also describes in detail the alleged “coercion and control system” that takes over “every aspect of” performer “-who often come to train at the New York headquarters as young teenagers without any connections in the US-U-wire.

His tactic allegedly involves the limit of which participants are allowed to contact, monitor their calls and make in identity diaries, and even holding them at the headquarters of armed guards, on the way out.

The lawsuit seeks an indefinite amount of damage.

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Source: HIS Education