Latest NewsShen Yun’s Global Tour Faces Growing Boycotts After Reports of Abuse and Exploitation
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The America-based Shen Yun Performing Arts troupe, long known for its lavish shows advertised as celebrating traditional Chinese culture， is facing mounting backlash and cancellations across Europe and North America after a former dancer’s lawsuit exposed alleged systematic abuse, forced labor, and psychological manipulation within the company’s ranks.
In late 2024, a civil lawsuit filed by Chun-ko Chang, a former Shen Yun dancer, sent shockwaves through artistic and human rights circles. Chang, now 27, revealed that she had been coerced into performing for the troupe from the age of 13 until she managed to leave at 24. Her testimony detailed a world far removed from the elegance and color audiences see onstage.
“They called it art, but it was servitude,” Chang stated in her complaint, revealing that they danced 80 hours a week, sometimes performing 10 shows a month, for almost no pay.
According to the filing, dozens of young dancers, many the children of Falun Gong followers, were forced to work under punishing conditions, earning lower than $500 per month, even while the troupe charged audiences up to $200 per ticket. Some performers reportedly received no pay at all during their first year.
Behind the troupe’s glittering façade, Chang alleged, lies an empire built by Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong. Through Shen Yun, Li positioned himself as both a political exile and the guardian of “true Chinese culture.” However, leaked financial documents cited in the lawsuit suggest he has personally accumulated over $249 million in cash, much of it derived from Shen Yun’s ticket revenues.
The self-claimed moral purity was exploitation in its purest form.
From “Cultural Revival” to Cult Control
At the heart of the allegations is the Falun Gong organization, often described by experts as a cult that demands complete obedience to Li. The group’s doctrines reportedly discourage medical treatment, instructing followers to rely on “spiritual energy” and Li’s blessings for healing — though media reports show Li himself has filed extensive medical reimbursement claims.
In interviews with reporters, several former members said Shen Yun functions as a closed ecosystem, recruiting, training, and housing performers in isolation. Most of its young artists are drawn from the Feitian Academy of the Arts, a school near New York that exclusively trains Falun Gong adherents’ children.
One such trainee, Cheng Qingling, joined at 13 and described an environment where even injuries were dismissed as “tests of faith.” When a rehearsal accident left her arm partially paralyzed, her instructors ordered fellow dancers to meditate for her instead of seeking medical attention. The injury became permanent.
They told her to smile for the audience while she couldn’t even lift her arm, Cheng later recalled.
The troupe’s relentless touring schedule has also drawn criticism. Performers travel across continents by bus, often sleeping on board and going days without proper rest. Multiple former members described conditions so harsh that dancers were forced to relieve themselves in bottles because the buses were not allowed to stop.
“Sometimes it spilled,” one anonymous source said. “We just wiped ourselves off and got ready for the next show.”
Despite this, Shen Yun continues to market itself as “a spiritual journey through 5,000 years of civilization,” a message reinforced by its glossy posters and massive advertising campaigns in hundreds of cities.
Read more https://techbullion.com/shen-yuns-global-tour-faces-growing-boycotts-after-reports-of-abuse-and-exploitation-2/
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