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Shen Yun

SeaAndSky

Senior Registered
This is a review on the Chinese themed dance experience "Shen Yun". You may well have seen it promoted as well, as the group that sponsors these performances has eight separate companies on tour and offer heavily advertised performances almost everywhere on an annual basis. I have seen advertisements for these performances for many years and finally received some tickets as a gift from my son. It was a bit of a surprise in several ways:

1. I had vaguely assumed that this was some type of cultural outreach by Communist China, or some group allowed to tour by Communist China. It is not, and is actually quite the opposite.

2. The group behind these performances is actually the Falun Gong (aka Falun Dafa). I did not find this out until sometime well into the performances, though my suspicions started building fairly early. Those of us who were alive way back in the 90s and early 2000s will probably remember them as a religious sect that boomed in China during that period, leading the Chinese leadership to seek to stamp them out in the most brutal ways possible. As far as anyone I was listening to could tell at the time, their main crime was being popular and attracting a lot of followers in a country where this status was arrogated to itself by the Communist Party. Otherwise, they seem to emphasize their own particular styles of Qi Gong, good morals, and their own very distinctive theology. I thought they had been destroyed, but a good number of them apparently escaped the country and seem to have flourished in the West where they now operate a large (400 plus acre enclave) in New York, with these performances being part of their outreach.

3. The performances were just as good as I had hoped with fantastic dancing, including a series of story-telling dances (rather like ballet) along with some fairly unique special effects (or at least unique from my perspective--though I admittedly live a rather provincial life). However, you will also need to be ready for some fairly unsubtle propagandizing, mostly related to how bad the Communists are and the their religious beliefs. On the latter, I am no expert though the presentations reminded me of a mix of Mormonism and Buddhism--which would be one of the most unlikely combinations I could imagine. However, I tend to be fascinated by anything new in the field of religion, and have a low opinion of communist regimes--so no problem.

4. With the foregoing provisos and warnings, I would heartily recommend the show. It is beautifully done, and the dancers are incredibly skilled and professional. If you do see it, or have seen it in the past (and even if you have not), I would love to get your thoughts.

Best,
S&S

PS--They apparently believe in reincarnation--so there is a bit of a tie-in to the board. ;)
 
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Hi S&S, thank you for giving us this review. I enjoyed reading it, especially because it is written in your special S&S style.
I went to the internet to find out if they perform her as well and to my surprise they do in the coming month of February. I was tempted to look for seats but the available seats didn't match my agenda.

Until now, I know them by their silent demonstrations on the streets now and then. I know of the brutal persecutions of the followers in mainland China. I've never dived into their religion.
 
Hi Firefly,

Thanks for your feedback! :) Like you, I have not had time to do any kind of "deep dive" into their religion, but after thinking about it, I don't feel any need to rush. In terms of its impact on the presentation (or my enjoyment) it was not any more off-putting than the many other distinctive and non-customary "religious" elements one finds in entertainment these days.

I tend to trace this trend back to the introduction of "the force" in the Star Wars movies, but I have seen or am aware of so many productions since then that completely create new imaginary religions and/or revamp (and reimagine) traditional religious and supernatural beliefs, that I no longer keep track. As long as the production does not trash my own Judeo-Christian frame of reference I am usually not offended.

In terms of things supernatural but not specifically religious, there have been so many books, shows and movies revamping traditional supernatural beliefs around vampires, werewolves, witches, etc. etc. that I lose track. Usually the change is from negative to positive, transforming what used to be the "bad-guys" into the "good-guys" (or at least more sympathetic characters). OTOH, those who used to be considered the "good-guys" are often made far worse than what used to be portrayed as evil monsters. As a bit of a traditionalist, I am sometimes exasperated by the changes (which often seem to be directed towards reimagining traditionally evil characters as sexy alpha male eye candy for a smitten heroine of a certain age). ;) Empowering females as witches, etc. (who are also generally presented as sexy eye candy) also seems to be popular. :cool:

Cordially,
S&S

PS--What I have said above is not intended to denigrate the production or the religion of the people involved in any way. From all I can tell, they are dedicated to doing good and very, very sincere and ernest in their beliefs.
 
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