I am really shocked today to be reporting that I was not completely thrilled with "Shen Yun." I thought I would singing its praises today. Yes, it is BEAUTIFUL. Beyond visually stunning. The dancing and music and costumes - absolutely amazing.But, there is a problem with it...
The problem is that there is a "Falun Dafa (Falun Gong)" agenda woven through the whole performance that is not revealed in any of the "Shen Yun Performing Arts" advertising. At all. They do give a little glimpse of their mission statement on their website, but there is nothing mentioned about "Falun Dafa". The only reason I understand so much about this movement now is because I have done some reading about it since last night. One of the things I've read about this movement is that the founder promotes racism and the hatred of homosexuals. I am also reading that there are many people out there that believe that Falun Dafa is a cult. And I found this website singing the praises of "Shen Yun." Obviously if we had known all of this, we may or may not have gone to the show. I'm not sure. Believe me, I have no problem with people expressing their beliefs. We live in a free country and you can believe and express what you want to. What I am upset about is the hidden agenda of this show. We were not given all the information regarding the show in the advertising so that Doug and I were able to make a completely informed decision whether to see this show with our daughter or not.
Doug and I brought our three year old child to this performance looking to share and enjoy traditional Chinese culture with her. I would say three-fourths of the show was mainly beautiful, traditional Chinese dance numbers. But, there were three songs sung during the show by opera singers and all the songs had a persecution-type tone to them (subtitles were being shown in English on the backdrop of the stage). And there were two dance performances that included people being persecuted by the Chinese government for practicing their beliefs (now I know Falun Dafa) - which included pretend kicking, hitting and even death. Yes, the death of a mother in front of her child for practicing her beliefs. (Oh - child was kicked and hit too.) Luckily, Briana is still too young to understand really what was going on.
So, if you decide to see this show - go with the knowledge that there is FAR more behind it than is let on. I am very, very disappointed today about all of this. That aside, the dance performances themselves were beautiful.
13 Kind Words:
what?! I am really shocked by this. I told you I tried to get tickets to the show for Low and I....
I did read up on the show (very briefly) before trying to get tickets because i wanted to make sure it would keep Low's attention. I have never heard of FalunDafa.
It was here last fall and I really wanted to go. I thought it looked like it would be beautiful and yes, like you, wanted to share this with my daughter. My husband did some research on-line (he's like that) and found out what you are talking about. It shocked me too! With a heavy heart, we decided not to attend. After this experience, I will never look into taking Emi to something (or heck, attending myself!) without some thorough investigating.
Glad you liked some of it, I am sure it really was quite spectacular.
Kiy
Oh Wow! Yes the commercials I saw on TV were definitely misleading. But I can also see why they wouldn't show that kind of stuff. They want people to come to the show.
I see where you are torn because this is not how we want to raise our Chinese daughters, nor do we want them to believe that all Chinese peoples have these beliefs. I am really surprised that they would show the death of a mother in front of an audience that could contain children. That is not an appropriate message for kids to see.
I'm glad so much of it was beautiful but also sad to see that they used the show as a way to spread their agenda.
Why did I read the first part of this and know already this was where it was going.....I would have been very dissapointed too. The area where Sugar is from is apparently thickly connected with FD....one part of her heritage I'm hoping she wll never hear about.
Happy belated 40th anniversary to your Mom and Dad.
I have to agree with you.... If I would have know the content prior to going, I probably would have opted to not go.......
xo,
Lisa
Hey Lisa, KB here...I think we told you that I was going to take my mom to see it today. First off, this is *definitely* not a show to take young kids to....not what I had expected. Not only was it long but the violence was pretty, well, violent. I was also taken aback by the intertwining of the religious stuff as well. I didn't know anything about it this Falun Dafa at time but the hard religious push was a real turnoff nonetheless.
I *knew* something was up with them not having much (if at all) promotional video. I'm sure you saw the "No Photographs" signs everywhere as well. They also announced that pictures and video violated copyright law. Yeah right. That got my libertarian "hacker" juices flowing thinking about how that's such an invitation for exploitation.
Seriously, what are they trying to hide? Their intellectual property or their hidden religious message. I was kinda of hoping that the lady with the microphone/camera guy was going to approach me to get my opinion. ;-)
Other than that I thought it was really neat. :-)
Thanks for posting this...they are coming here in March and we were considering going. I don't think we will attend now.
I'm not sure if you realize, but the people who practice Falun Dafa ARE persecuted in China. They are jailed and beaten for simply having a different belief. I know a girl whose Chinese friend has been in prison for several years for being a practitioner of Falun Gong (or Falun Dafa, whatever your preference). Violent as the sequence was, that is reality for many practioners of Falun Dafa today. Cult or not, they still have rights. Unfortunately, not in China.
I do not doubt that Falun Dafa followers are persecuted in China. And I don't believe they should be persecuted for their beliefs.
But, that still doesn't change the fact that "Shen Yun" did not explain in their advertising that they are promoting Falun Dafa. I might not have had as much of a problem with those performances if my 3 year old daughter wasn't sitting in my lap. I have every right to shield her from that expression of violence if I choose to until she is older. Shen Yun didn't not warn that parts of the show might not be suitable for young children.
There actually has been quite a bit of discussion on at least 3 of the adoption lists about how this may not be appropriate for young kids. I always recommend networking (for lack of a better word) before buying tickets to any production you're not familiar with or have attended. Best - Nina
Thanks Nina - I definitely will now after this experience.
The thing is that I would have never imagined what I thought was just a traditional Chinese dance show could be controversial. Atlanta even has a huge billboard hung up on I-75 promoting the show. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought it was anything more than just a light and beautiful dance show (which is how it is promoted.) Luckily, most of the numbers were not controversial and there is no doubt my daughter will only remember the pretty costumes and dance.
I have a nice sized network of adoptive parents/friends that I am a part of and no one knew about this. Actually, there are a few of my friends that attended the show like me and were as surprised as I was.
I put up this post to try to get the word out. I hope I helped a little.
Lisa, I do think you helped - look at your comments! I wish I had thought to put up a post when we decided not to go. It didn't even cross my mind. So, you done good gal! :)
Kiy
I am so glad you posted about this. They are in the DC area and we were planning to purchase tickets for next Sunday. I am SO glad to read your post. Those scenes? Would freak out the Tongginator. Plus, I don't know if we would want to give money to this organization, even by attending a show.
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