Behind the Recent Media Misrepresentations of Shen Yun
Some recently published media reports paint a disturbing picture of Shen Yun Performing Arts, which bears no resemblance to the lived experience of our performers and staff. These twisted portrayals of the company veer far from reality, and grossly distort Shen Yun’s workplace culture, the quality of life of our artists, as well as the teachings and beliefs of our Falun Gong faith.
Shen Yun has set the bar for classical Chinese dance globally. To meet this standard requires extraordinary discipline, work ethic, and dedication on the part of the artists. We are also a company rooted in faith, which values moral living and self-improvement as key ingredients to delivering world-class artistic and cultural offerings to our audience.
While it may not be a lifestyle for everyone, working at Shen Yun is something that people find deeply fulfilling because it challenges them to achieve artistic excellence while supporting them with a workplace environment built on compassion, teamwork, and striving to put others before oneself. Our artists receive top-notch medical care from doctors across the country, while students who perform with us as part of their coursework are cared for like our very own. We are, in some ways, a big family that nurtures personal and professional growth as well as life-long friends, as evidenced by the hundreds of testimonies of our current artists, former artists, and family members (a sampling of which you can read about or watch here).
Our performances represent a renaissance of authentic traditional Chinese culture, offering audiences around the world a hopeful and inspiring vision of China before communism. We additionally depict the reality of modern China, where the tyranny of the Chinese communist regime, as well as the nonviolent resistance and faith of Chinese people, is on full display. For this reason, our company has been the target of a relentless, global campaign of intimidation, coercion, and thuggery at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to a January 2024 report by the Falun Dafa Information Center. This includes: CCP diplomats, United Front organizations, and secret agents threatening theaters and elected officials with economic and diplomatic reprisals; spreading disinformation attacking Shen Yun through paid ads in major newspapers, hired online commenters, and emails to theater managers; repeatedly slashing the tires of the buses that carry performers; threatening and imprisoning our artists’ relatives back in China, and recently even sending evidently fake bomb threats to theaters in California, Florida, Canada, and France, as well as to Shen Yun headquarters in New York. Over 130 such incidents of interference across a staggering 38 countries have been recorded, according to the report.
While these shameful acts have largely failed to stop our company from performing—usually for over one million people across 200 cities each year—a new report published Aug. 7, 2024, exposes a change in Party tactics that dramatically raises the stakes in targeting Shen Yun. According to the report, several CCP entities have been instructed to: a) throw their “full support” behind certain Chinese social media influencers to attack Shen Yun, and b) “activate” spies to incite hatred toward our company among the American public. The report says this is part of a larger CCP initiative to “eliminate” Falun Gong globally. It also says that allegations against Shen Yun included in recent media reports have been made by individuals with known ties to this new campaign targeting Shen Yun, Chinese government organizations, or both; and these ties are not disclosed in the media reports featuring these individuals.
It is no surprise, then, that the media reports in question are riddled with gross distortions of our company operations, and present crude and insensitive interpretations of the faith of our performers. To be clear: how we run our company, the manner in which we treat each other, and the values that we hold dear are completely absent from the accounts featured in these media reports.
Eighteen years ago, we started this company with nothing but a vision, our faith, and the shirts on our backs. Over time, we have matured in our operations, providing more training, services, and resources to our personnel. Going forward, we will continue to improve, making the experience of our staff and performers ever better. And in fact, we welcome any constructive critiques offered in the spirit of goodwill, and recognize these as a vital component to the health of our organization. Indeed, feedback loops and constant improvement are a hallmark of our organization. They allow us to create great art, and more. But let’s be very clear: these recent media reports do not represent life at Shen Yun. These reports are a clear and obvious attack meant to malign our mission and our faith, belittle the values we hold dear, and tear down a remarkable American institution built largely by first-generation immigrants and refugees fleeing persecution in China.
Our goal has always been, and continues to be, to bring hope and inspiration to millions of people around the world by showcasing the beauty, depth, and spirituality of traditional Chinese culture. It is sad to see media companies in the West, wittingly or not, get caught up in the CCP’s illicit, global campaign to destroy the American company we built, and in so doing, deprive untold millions around the world from experiencing a vision of the China that once was, as well as a vision of a more hopeful and compassionate world.
Additional Resources:
10 surprising things to know about recent reports on Shen Yun:
https://faluninfo.net/10-things-to-know-about-the-new-york-times-investigation-of-shen-yun-falun-gong/
Interview with medical doctor who regularly treats Shen Yun dancers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojPeL7ydIwI&t
Interview about the CCP weaponizing American media:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS3RS4vJguI
Report on CCP’s new media campaign against Shen Yun:
https://faluninfo.net/weaponizing-social-media/
Newsweek article by former Shen Yun dancer:
https://www.newsweek.com/i-was-former-shen-yun-dancer-proud-part-it-1946031
Interview with former Shen Yun dancer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWHDr8wc0Uw
Factsheet:
https://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/shen-yun-factsheet
