Yesterday Ford and I attended a performance of Shen Yun here in Miami. Okay, this post is only mildly travel related, but culture and travel go hand-in-hand, and I just can’t stop thinking about what I saw. It was super impressive, yet also a total mindf*ck… so I’m curious what everyone else’s take is on this?
Background on Shen Yun, and why we decided to go
Shen Yun is a United States based performing arts and entertainment company that has become massive. Shen Yun’s founder seems to have a 400-acre compound in New York, where the group has its own university of sorts. The term “Shen Yun” translates to “the beauty of heavenly beings dancing,” which seems innocent enough.
Shen Yun was founded in 2006, and has grown massively since, and at this point there are eight groups that are constantly touring, with nearly 500 performers. The company tours worldwide… well, except in China, where it’s banned. The company promises an amazing performance with traditional Chinese dances, and it bills the performance as offering a glimpse into “China before communism.”
I don’t know if it’s the case everywhere, but the amount of advertising that Shen Yun does is unreal. If Shen Yun advertised any more, it would be My Pillow Guy on Fox News during Mike Lindell’s peak
The Shen Yun ads are everywhere. Billboards. Pamphlets. Online. You name it. That advertising finally worked on us. When we saw that they were back in town, we figured it was finally time to see this for ourselves. I mean, I appreciated that they had a 2PM performance on a Saturday, which works perfectly with my sleep schedule (the 7:30PM performance, on the other hand… well, nothing good happens after 7PM!).
I intentionally ignored the Shen Yun controversy
I knew there was some controversy surrounding Shen Yun, though I intentionally didn’t do too much research before the show. Why? Well, I wanted to form my own opinion, without coming in with the bias of what I might have read online.
The one thing I knew was that the Chinese government has banned Shen Yun, and has labeled it as a cult. I mean, without getting too political, I didn’t really view that as a dealbreaker.
I also knew that new religious movement Falun Gong is behind Shen Yun. I was sort of familiar with this, but again, didn’t do too much research, because I wanted to keep an open mind (and honestly, I was probably still more educated on the topic than the average person there, because during the intermission I heard a woman near me say that the show was really making her want to visit Japan…).
The Shen Yun performance was incredible…
The Shen Yun performance lasted for a bit over two hours (including the intermission), and consisted of a bunch of short dancing performances, as well as solo performances (instrumental and singing). The talent of these performers is simply beyond.
Everything was so perfectly choreographed. Every single move from every single performer was perfect, and I was in disbelief. I mean, I can barely walk down the street without tripping over my own feet, yet these people were doing 12 coordinated backflips and making it seem like it was nothing.
I can’t say enough good things about how impressive the talent was, and how visually appealing the whole production was. The costumes, the live music, the performers, it was a feast for the eyes and ears.
…but OMG, the propaganda was wild
The theme throughout the Shen Yun performance varied greatly. Each performance was maybe five minutes long, and then there were these two emcees who would provide commentary on what we were about to see.
The emcees were a Chinese woman, and a (distractingly handsome) Caucasian guy who was presumably just an enthusiast for the language and culture. At times, their banter felt like a comedy routine. It very much felt like they were there to add a human element to the whole thing, and to pass off some pretty controversial opinions as fact.
Most of the individual performances were innocent enough, and wouldn’t make you bat an eyelid. Some were just traditional dances reportedly from thousands of years ago, while there were also some lighthearted performances, like roleplaying that a health inspector was showing up at a Chinese restaurant when all the workers were tired.
But then there were also several scenes where I was just wondering “what the heck am I watching?” For example, this amazing singer came on stage for a solo performance, and then the lyrics were translated and written on a screen. The lyrics included things like “atheism and evolution are deadly ideas,” and “modern trends destroy what makes us human.” That wasn’t just something that was said once, but it was a recurring theme.
What seemed very intentional is that the high points of the singing performance were the parts with the most controversial lyrics, so the whole theater would erupt in clapping after this guy sang “atheism and evolution are deadly ideas.”
There was also a scene where Shanghai was being destroyed by a tsunami, and then the leader of Falun Gong swooped in to save everyone. Or there was a scene where a follower of Falun Gong was having their organs harvested by the CCP.
I’m just so confused about what I saw
As we walked out of the theater I said to Ford “that was amazing, I’m not sure whether I was more impressed by the incredible dancing or the subtle propaganda.”
But the funny thing is that the propaganda isn’t even subtle. You basically get a bunch of unsuspecting people in a room who pay you a bunch of money based on the ads they saw, you tell them evolution and atheism are evil, they clap as if there’s no tomorrow, and they pretend like they didn’t hear it, or somehow find it charming.
Here’s what I’m curious about, and what Ford and I disagree on. I get the sense that this is intended to be propaganda and the goal is to push the religion. Now, do I think this actually works, and any people convert as a result of this? No. But I think part of the goal is to at least normalize this religion, create more awareness of it, and make people not think that there’s anything strange going on here.
Ford has a slightly different take, and he thinks that they have their religion, and the performance is just mainly intended as a way to profit off the whole thing and keep it going. If that were the truth, I figured they’d perhaps be a bit less controversial with the content of the show. But I certainly could be wrong.
Now, regardless of which take is true, one thing is for sure — Shen Yun is a massive money maker. They sell millions of tickets annually, so you can only imagine what the revenues are.
Bottom line
I finally caved and bought a My Pillow Guy pillow… I mean, attended a performance of Shen Yun. I intentionally went into it “blind,” and knew it would be a bit controversial. But my gosh, it was a lot more than I was expecting.
On the one hand, the performance was nothing short of incredible, and the talent of the Shen Yun group is impressive. On the other hand, the amount of propaganda in the show is wild. The people behind marketing Shen Yun are geniuses, because I paid a pretty penny to sit through a performance where I was told that science is evil, and modern trends are ruining the world.
What a unique position Shen Yun and Falun Gong are in, being called a cult by the CCP, and claiming to offer a glimpse into China before communism. Yet somehow, I’m not sure Falun Gong comes out of this looking like the reasonable party.
What’s your take on Shen Yun? Has anyone else seen this performance, and if so, what did you think?
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