I watched Shen Yun in 2022 and wanted to post my review of it, but didn't get down to doing it. Now I can't find my programme (important to scan since photography was forbidden, even for the curtain call), but have decided to post the review first. If I ever find the programme I will add scans of it:
I got the chance last year to see Shen Yun. Though it is marketed as a Chinese dance performance, I knew that there was going to be Falungong propaganda, not least thanks to this exciting New Yorker article:
Chairman Mao appeared, and the sky turned black; the city in the digital backdrop was obliterated by an earthquake, then finished off by a Communist tsunami. A red hammer and sickle glowed in the center of the wave. Dazed, I rubbed my eyes and saw a huge, bearded face disappearing in the water.“Was that . . . ?” I said to my brother, wondering if I needed to go to the hospital.
“Karl Marx?” he said. “Yeah, I think that was a tsunami with the face of Karl Marx.”
But this was actually part of the appeal - it being Falungong propaganda and including anti-Communist elements would make the performance more entertaining than a pure Chinese dance spectacle.
Shen Yun - a telling view into the World of Falungong
The best way to summarise Shen Yun is Chinese and Chineseish dance in front of a sometimes-psychedelic video screen, with a dose of Falungong propaganda. The dancing was actually pretty well done, with seamless transitions between live action on the stage and the video screen, as characters climbed into and out of it and the music was pleasant.
They had a very strict no photo policy. So even for the curtain call, photography was not allowed. Excuses about performers' safety aside, this is almost surely to allow them to better curate their image; none of the copious marketing material I've seen so much as hints at the Falungong propaganda, or even its Falungong connections, for example - apparently their performers are so fragile that photos taken before the performance, during the intermission and during the curtain call can endanger them.
I remember Chinese dance being an exclusively female activity, but they had men in many dances, with some all-male dances even. There were also 2 minority dances - from the Yi and the Jurchen, as well as more general skits, like a Monkey King one, and the Falungong propaganda pieces (which I will get to later).
Before and after each piece, there was bilingual commentary in English and Mandarin. Yet, it was not fully translated in either direction, so if you only understand one you missed some bits. The Mandarin-only commentary was mostly decorative, though.
There was somewhat less Falungong propaganda than I'd expected. Excepting the references to traditional Chinese religion, the first of it came in the form of a tenor accompanied by piano singing a song about God, modern corruption and ancient traditions, which was vague enough.
Then, 45 minutes in, there was talk about Falungong and persecution, introducing a skit about modern day Falungon persecution, entitled "insanity during the end of days". In it, Communists (dressed in black t-shirts with a hammer and sickle on the back) killed a girl - the daughter of military official who discovered to his horror his complicity in her death. Hilariously, at the end Buddha and dancing maidens in ancient garb appeared and resurrected her. This was so ridiculous, I laughed out loud.
After the intermission, there was more propaganda. There was an instrumental erhu and piano piece (The Spirit of Dafa).
Then there was a soprano accompanied by piano singing a song with very blatant lyrics about Falungong's founder being the Messiah and condemning atheism and evolution, as well as modern thought and modern ways leading one to hell. [Falun] Dafa, we were told, was salvation. There're many interesting parallels with communism, including the personality cult and the condemnation of degenerate culture, and this puts paid to the lie of Falungong being a secular movement based on meditation and health practices.
The final skit was again set in modern China, and the Falungong book was treated like a sacred text. It showed the alienation of modern life, with alcohol and mobile phones and prominently featured a banner with the magic words "真善忍" (truth, benevolence, endurance); the previous propaganda skit had also used this banner, albeit less prominently).
Black clad CCP figures then came out to persecute the Falungong members again, and in the finale, a huge tsunami came to destroy the city, until a monk-like figure (he had hair) in a white robe clad monk flew in to save the day, repelling the tsunami. Then dancing maidens in Chinese garb appeared.
I was pretty surprised that all the blatant propaganda attracted so much applause, but I guess many people were being polite.
Ironically, given its marketing as showcasing "true" Chinese culture, there was a good deal of western influence in the performance. The orchestra was mainly a Western one - strings, brass, winds, harp & percussion, with the only Chinese instruments being one erhu and one pipa.
They also mentioned that their dancers had ballet training and indeed the ballet influence was apparent, but they claimed that ballet had been influenced by Chinese dance anyway (I am unable to find non-Shen Yun sources for this claim).
From visual and programme inspection, everyone involved in the production seemed of East Asian, if not of Chinese descent, except the male host (doing the English commentary) and a trombone player (who was the only non-Chinese-instrument orchestra player - and this was called out in the program).
In 2022, their only performance in Asia was in Taiwan, and they performed in many cities with many people of Chinese descent, which led me to speculate that besides raising money and the profile of Falungong, Shen Yun was meant to influence Chinese people. In 2023, though, they've expanded their reach in Asia (probably due to covid restrictions) and are doing Japan and Korea too.
Shen Yun claims that you cannot see a performance like this in China. Well. This is not quite true. Chinese dance is not banned. Falungong and Shen Yun themselves are, so it's true from a certain point of view that you can't see a performance like this in China. Interestingly
They say they put on a new show every year, but the Falungong propaganda and anti-CCP content is not going to change, so I'm pretty much done with Shen Yun (it's not cheap either). However, if you've never seen it, it's worth going to get a peek into their world and how crazy it is.
