Shen Yun Dance Troupe on a display panel announcing a next performance at Leavenworth, Kansas.
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Shen Yun, a group of show arts that runs around the world and is known for its disputed relationship with the Chinese government, has been accused of work for forced children in a trial brought by two former dancers.
The prosecution was filed last month before a federal district court in New York on behalf of Sun Zan, 32, and Cheng Qing Ling, 28. In a recent interview with NPR, Sun and Cheng said they felt isolated from their family, too afraid to express themselves and undergo physical and psychological damage. To date, they have said they recovered from the physical and emotional assessment of their childhood.
The complaint itself alleys That children aged 13 worked out of exhausting training schedules at least at least six days a week, in exchange for a little salary and an inadequate education. The trial also claims that workers lived under a culture of fear and regularly carried out when injured.
A similar costume accusing the abuse dance company was deposited by another former dancer in November 2024. The two proceedings came after A New York Times Survey last summer which examined the company of Shen Yun and its treatment of young artists. Sun and Cheng were interviewed in the Times’ history.
Shen Yun vehemently denied the detailed allegations in the Times’ Investigation and proceedings that followed. In a statement at NPR, the group firmly rejected that the dancers were mistreated or refused medical care, adding that it operates “with integrity” and “determined to maintain the highest artistic and ethical standards”.
When asked why he felt forced to continue a legal action, Sun told NPR: “I just want to be the person who should have been there when I was a child.”
“In our opinion, this trial offers a chance to hold the powerful responsible for exploiting this kind of vulnerability,” said lawyer Carol Merchain, who represents Sun and Cheng.
What is Shen Yun?
Shen Yun was trained in New York in 2006 by a group of classic Chinese artists who seek to revive traditional Chinese culture – or, as the company announces, “China before communism” – through dance, music and narration.
Shen Yun is deeply linked to the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong, which focuses on self-improvement and meditation. The movement was founded in the early 90s by Li Hongzhi, who was also appointed defendant in the Cheng and Sun trial, as well as that tabled in November.
The Chinese government has banned Falun Gong’s practice, accusing the movement of being a cult. Consequently, Falun Gong practitioners were faced with persecution in China, with thousands of people imprisoned or sent to work camps, according to a human rights watch report. Shen Yun’s performance is not allowed in China either.
Since its creation, the dance group has toured 36 countries and has reached more than one million people a year, according to the company. Shen Yun played in some of the most prestigious theaters in the world, including Lincoln Center in New York and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC
What the trial says
Around the age of 13, Cheng left her family and house in New Zealand in 2010 to join the Shen Yun Dance Company in the United States, his decision to join was motivated by the desire to make his mother-a devoted pride of the Falun Gong-proud, she told NPR. But in the next five years, said the trial, Cheng lived in fear, in particular to make mistakes or underperform during dance rehearsals.
“I was in such a mode of survival,” she told NPR. “Oh, thank God at least I am not the one who is struck this time. Oh, thank God, I am not verbally abused this time. ‘ ‘It was the only thing you could focus on and not really, “HM, could I have been better treated?”
Sun, who is also from New Zealand, joined in 2008 at the age of 15. According to the costume, Sun was invited to New York for a three -month trial period at the group complex in New York. The pursuit alleges that, at one point, the instructors forced the sun in a lateral split, causing internal bleeding and several tears in the leg muscles, which resulted in “extreme pain for several weeks”.
After the trial period, Sun became a full -time student at the affiliated religious school of Shen Yun, Fei Tian Academy, where his long days of work were mainly devoted to dance training, says the costume.
“At the time, I didn’t feel like I really have a choice,” he told NPR. “I was a little led there – all these adults telling me that it is the best thing you can do.”
The trial alleys that the leaders of Shen Yun warned Cheng that “complaining or speaking would be harmful”, while Sun had been informed that his life would be meaningless if he had left. After about seven years, Sun was dismissed by Shen Yun in 2015 because he was “captured in interaction with the girls”, according to the costume. That year, Cheng was also released after making a visit to the costume factory.
Years after the separation of Shen Yun, Sun and Cheng, who are now married with each other, said they were still healing emotionally and physically.
“You think you can somehow flee this, but you can’t, you know?” Said Sun. “You are so injured and so damaged.”
For Cheng, one of the most difficult challenges was to forgive her parents, who, according to her, did not protect her for years of difficulties.
“At the same time, I feel like I can’t really blame my parents,” she said. “Because at one point in their lives, they thought Falun Gong was the right thing for them and therefore the right thing for me.”
Shen Yun’s response
In a statement at NPR, Shen Yun argued that his success depends on healthy dancers and that they guarantee that their artists have access to medical care, including physiotherapy and rehabilitation, both during rehearsals and on tour.
The company added that it was taking the education of its young dancers seriously, arguing that students of the Fei Tian Academy allow standardized tests.
Shen Yun also argued that the dance company and more broadly, Falun Gong, has been attacked by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for decades by harassment and disinformation. In February, the Kennedy Center had to be evacuated following a threat of bomb targeting Shen Yun. The source of the threat remains clear.
Shen Yun also underlined a petition made last year, signed by more than 1,550 people, including current and old artists as well as family members, in support of the dance group. The petition called on the United States Ministry of Justice to “investigate the sources of this campaign of foreign malignant influence and to court those behind”.
“While a small number of people who were artists with Shen Yun many years ago now help spread the account of the CCP, we are grateful for the large number of our artists who defend us publicly despite the PCC pressure,” Shen Yun said in a statement at NPR.
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