How many DLrs have seen the controversial, homophobic show 'Shen Yun' ?

'Shen Yun' is the controversial non-profit American dance company which travels around America and Europe stopping in each city for a few nights before they pack it up and move on (they came to my area the last week of January before moving on to NYC in early February). They spend a ton of money on local television advertising when they visit a city, and bill themselves as "divine rhythm arts troupe". Founded by a group of expatriate Chinese Falun Gong practitioners living in North America in 2006, it is operated by the Falun Gong new religious movement.

Shen Yun performances have received criticism for promoting sectarian doctrines and negative views toward evolution, atheism, and homosexuality. The group is promoted by The Epoch Times, a far-right media outlet affiliated with Falun Gong. The Chinese government bars Shen Yun from performing in China as it considers Falun Gong to be an "anti-society cult" and has attempted to cancel its performances abroad by pressuring theaters and governments

SO how many DL fraus have bought tickets over the years and enjoyed the performances ? How many have been recruited by the group ? Do tell of your experiences...

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by Anonymousreply 63February 21, 2023 4:18 PM

They’re anti-communist.

by Anonymousreply 1February 20, 2023 6:59 PM

They're whackjob cultists, but they're also a thorn in the ass of the Red Devils in Beijing, so it's a mixed bag.

It's like in the old days, when American intellectuals had to pretend to read Solzhenitsyn because he spent time in the Gulag.

by Anonymousreply 2February 20, 2023 6:59 PM

They are also anti-homosexual, too.

by Anonymousreply 3February 20, 2023 7:00 PM

They deserve the full Xinjiang Special.

by Anonymousreply 4February 20, 2023 7:02 PM

I havent heard of them being anti-gay, but they're a whackjob cult, so its perfectly credible. Couldnt find anything about that on their site

They're better than the CCP though. But not by a lot

by Anonymousreply 5February 20, 2023 7:07 PM

We are currently being flooded with the ads here in San Antonio.

Although the performance clips always look very beautiful, you can just tell there's an underlying agenda being pushed, which is why I've never been tempted to buy tickets.

I didn't know it was a Falun Gong/Epoch Times thing, though. Thanks for that additional bit of info...makes sense now.

by Anonymousreply 6February 20, 2023 7:08 PM

Beware of trolls and their seemingly innocuous queries.

Nice try, Bots.

by Anonymousreply 7February 20, 2023 7:10 PM

They always come by to tape up their stupid poster in my store's window. I told them no and received mystery one star google and yelp reviews with no text the next day. Now when they come thro I let them tape it to the counter and tear it down after they leave. Assholes

by Anonymousreply 8February 20, 2023 7:13 PM

This is constantly advertised in Southern California. It's as if the show never leaves the area. I'm beginning to wonder if it ever does close and then reopen. The newest ad promotes it as being "China before Communism". I won't pay to see it and wouldn't go even if I got free tickets.

by Anonymousreply 9February 20, 2023 7:16 PM

Has anyone worked the theaters where they perform ? I've heard they are quite horrible to the staff when they take over the theater they rented for a few nights.

by Anonymousreply 10February 20, 2023 7:19 PM

The Epoch Times is distributed in Canada. It's a shitrag.

by Anonymousreply 11February 20, 2023 7:41 PM

I've heard that the clips you see are the best parts of the show with folks reporting that the rest of it is incredibly boring.

by Anonymousreply 12February 20, 2023 7:51 PM

During quarantine we got our one and only epoch Times delivered to our driveway. I read it out of curiosity and holy shit...freedom of the press might be a bad idea

by Anonymousreply 13February 20, 2023 7:52 PM

[quote] We are currently being flooded with the ads here in San Antonio.

They seem to come in perpetuity. Like the "we've been trying to contact you about your car's extended warranty."

by Anonymousreply 14February 20, 2023 7:52 PM

Also, look at the clips that appear to show spectacle. Most of it is a projected background. Deceptive.

by Anonymousreply 15February 20, 2023 7:53 PM

One of my favorite New Yorker takedowns.

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by Anonymousreply 16February 20, 2023 7:55 PM

I saw a big billboard advertising this show on the West Side Highway last week.

by Anonymousreply 17February 20, 2023 7:55 PM

Attendees of college basketball in the south and central United States have seen better and earlier examples. They accept no substitutes.

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by Anonymousreply 18February 20, 2023 7:59 PM

Why the fuck would anyone wish to watch a bunch of programmed automatron dancers in hot pink. At best it's odd and unsettling.

by Anonymousreply 21February 20, 2023 8:11 PM

It’s Chi-uh-neese! Just like that gruesome exhibit of the flayed human body that was traveling the States several years ago, it was promoted as something beautiful but turned out to be executed Chinese dissidents.

by Anonymousreply 22February 20, 2023 8:17 PM

[quote] They always come by to tape up their stupid poster in my store's window.

Which McDonald’s is this?

by Anonymousreply 23February 20, 2023 8:27 PM

[quote] During quarantine we got our one and only epoch Times delivered to our driveway. I read it out of curiosity and holy shit...freedom of the press might be a bad idea

Wrong thread, dear.

by Anonymousreply 24February 20, 2023 8:29 PM

I've noticed in their more recent (incessant) TV commercials, they've started stressing how this represents how China was "before communism." Do they think this is 1955?

by Anonymousreply 25February 20, 2023 8:30 PM

[quote] The group is promoted by The Epoch Times, a far-right media outlet affiliated with Falun Gong.

Never mind.

by Anonymousreply 26February 20, 2023 8:32 PM

I always thought it looked shit, my good friend told me she and her daughter bought tickets and went last year. She’s starved for entertainment

by Anonymousreply 27February 20, 2023 8:32 PM

Eve Plumb should star in this.

by Anonymousreply 28February 20, 2023 8:33 PM

The emblem. And yes, I know, it means different things in different cultures. Still though, for a cult…

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by Anonymousreply 29February 20, 2023 8:33 PM

R8: I've always wondered why so many stores in NYC allow them to put up their posters. I never considered the review bomb extortion angle, but it now makes sense.

by Anonymousreply 30February 20, 2023 8:33 PM

Some sows I know were all excited about having tickets to a weekend performance and were perfectly all right with a rigid dress code 'recommended' for audience members, 'out of respect to the performers'. They said people showed up in everything, so really didn't get the message. Also said the show was heavy on boring propaganda and that the costumes were dirty and tatty. Fuck that shit. Sum Ting Wong.

by Anonymousreply 31February 20, 2023 8:43 PM

Sinister group - they promote the far right domestic agenda in the US. The epoch times was one of the most prolific YouTube advertising during the 2016 election, encouraging viewers to sign up for aesthetically slick misinformation/propaganda to be sent free of charge. Like they had giant posters of a web of trumps enemies you would get for signing up.

by Anonymousreply 32February 20, 2023 8:50 PM

The local Chinese restaurant has a poster for the show in their window.

by Anonymousreply 33February 20, 2023 8:58 PM

They’ve performed at the Kennedy Center, which I’ve always found bizarre.

by Anonymousreply 34February 20, 2023 9:02 PM

[quote]Why the fuck would anyone wish to watch a bunch of programmed automatron dancers in hot pink.

Gentle r21, this is NOT the RuPaul's Drag Race thread.

by Anonymousreply 35February 20, 2023 9:09 PM

[quote]They’ve performed at the Kennedy Center, which I’ve always found bizarre.

They rented the space.

by Anonymousreply 36February 20, 2023 9:14 PM

This will be a great Netflix limited series after we find out all the dirty details

by Anonymousreply 37February 20, 2023 9:32 PM

I loved their People Who Poop In Stores number. Very vibrant.

by Anonymousreply 38February 20, 2023 10:27 PM

Here are some comments off another message board discussing Shen Yun:

"[The second half of the show] turns into a recruitment presentation for Fulan Gong, including plants in the audience that go on stage to "join". It's much more than just the "cultural event" they try to portray it as... it's akin to being "saved" at a old-time tent revival. Also, Fulan Gong is virulently homophobic -- not the "love the sinner, hate the sin" kind but the full out "you should not exist and are an abomination" variety. So, yeah...not a fan."

"people go on stage after the show to join the Fulan Gong, a Chinese Armageddon cult."

" Having worked box office at a venue where the show came through, the show is a nightmare. They come in with their own "policies" for everything from ticket sales to front of house protocol. Working the show was an absolutely bizarre experience - I worked everything from Broadway tours to concerts and standup comedies at this venue for years, and Shen Yun's one weekend in town still haunts me to this day.."

by Anonymousreply 39February 20, 2023 10:35 PM

R32 *advertisers (sorry teacher!)

by Anonymousreply 41February 21, 2023 12:16 AM

Their cult members are getting lazy. They hung their flyer on the large jade plant next to my porch instead of the front door.

by Anonymousreply 42February 21, 2023 4:18 AM

I saw it 10 years ago in Miami. A Chinese co-worker was homesick so I offered to go with her. It was incredibly boring to me but when I asked her what she thought she said it reminded her of home and she liked the dancing. It seemed harmless at the time but they really are aggressive with the advertising.

by Anonymousreply 43February 21, 2023 5:06 AM

The newspaper that sponsors Shen Yun, The Epoch Times, is fully far-right and pro-Trump.

by Anonymousreply 44February 21, 2023 5:12 AM

I got a free Epoch Times in my mailbox earlier this month. Crazy mix of anti-CCP stories, Fox News bait, and some Tulsi-style anti-Americanism stuff.

BUT the physical paper was HUGE and on quite good newsprint stock. It reminded me of ye olde days when you would open a newspaper and have to spread your arms to do it.

by Anonymousreply 45February 21, 2023 5:14 AM

r3 so, was cirque de soleil (long history of incidents)... yet most everyone just ignored it. . . but of course, it's sacrilege to point that out because they'd buy us off with donations between scandals and they don't have backing of a fringe cult nor are expressively rightwing.

r45 their conversion to trumpism is kind of interesting.,. two fronts; Canada ignoring or minimizing ccp's actions, mainly a postal scandal that targeted the epoch times and also extended to recruiting canadian citizens to spread good p.r. for the ccp. And then you have the trump admin paying a lot of attention to Simone Gao, the WH elevated her and she became a trump devotee after that.. she seemed almost reasonable prior but whatever they did to her, she quickly dove into far out conspiracy theories after that. Similar patterns follow with a few other minority groups, too. They elevated some minor league journalists and they were locked firmly in their corners. then, all the indies as well.

I think the leftwing and establishment media was hurt too much by focusing on frivolous stories, over the top outrage and coverage of every little thing he did.. bringing on psychologists to debate the motivations of a man that would steal a taste of cake batter as a child or have two scoops of ice cream.

honestly, kind of surprised they didn't convert more...

by Anonymousreply 46February 21, 2023 6:04 AM

I got a Glassdoor alert the other day that The Epoch Times is looking for a copy editor. One of our "oh, dear" queens should try to get the job and fuck up their copy by slipping in stuff about how Mao was right and Marge Greene has an acne-covered shenis.

by Anonymousreply 47February 21, 2023 6:13 AM

Make it s complete evening with dinner at Loving Hut.

by Anonymousreply 48February 21, 2023 6:50 AM

Looks like a bad dream you would have after eating too much Chinese food.

by Anonymousreply 49February 21, 2023 6:59 AM

Pick up the phone, R48. The Supreme Master would like to have a word with you.

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by Anonymousreply 50February 21, 2023 7:15 AM

R38 I thought the “People Who Shit in Shopping Mall Garbage Cans” number was particularly poignant.

by Anonymousreply 51February 21, 2023 7:20 AM

I went to see it but an hour later I needed to be entertained again.

by Anonymousreply 52February 21, 2023 7:22 AM

Characterising them as merely anti-communist as r1 did is a gross oversimplification. They are also virulently anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-evolution, and anti-atheism. Yes, they're also against the CCP, but that's only because they can't spread their cult in mainland China. They went HARD for Trump thanks to his China rhetoric, but seem somewhat lost these day because it's Biden who has been historically antagonising towards China. The poor sods don't quite know what to do with themselves now.

by Anonymousreply 53February 21, 2023 3:01 PM

It’s a propaganda show.

They used to pretend they were a troop from China, but then a legal change made them place a disclaimer on their advertising that they’re based in NY

by Anonymousreply 54February 21, 2023 3:39 PM

They usually set up protests all over NY. Sometimes they show people in cages—claiming that China did that to them, which many dispute.

They are so bothersome, that’s whenever we walk by them, my partner whispers, someone should stick them in a cage

by Anonymousreply 55February 21, 2023 3:41 PM

[Quote] They’ve performed at the Kennedy Center, which I’ve always found bizarre.

Anyone with money can rent space at these famous theaters

by Anonymousreply 56February 21, 2023 3:41 PM

[Quote] The local Chinese restaurant has a poster for the show in their window.

It’s on nearly every window in NYC

by Anonymousreply 57February 21, 2023 3:42 PM

[quote]Characterising them as merely anti-communist as [R1] did is a gross oversimplification.

Looks like R53 didn't bother reading my thread headline, my post, or my link.

by Anonymousreply 58February 21, 2023 3:58 PM

[quote]They used to pretend they were a troop from China

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 59February 21, 2023 4:05 PM

[quote]Anyone with money can rent space at these famous theaters

Really? You think they'd rent to the Nazi party? Or some pedophile organization?

by Anonymousreply 60February 21, 2023 4:07 PM

they are followers of Falun Gong

by Anonymousreply 61February 21, 2023 4:12 PM

r58 I was responding solely to r1, not to you. Not everything revolves around you, dear.

by Anonymousreply 62February 21, 2023 4:16 PM

Oh, I see now r58 is the guy who creates three quarters of threads on DL. Obviously he thinks everything revolves around him, it's an easy mistake to make when you're terminally online.

by Anonymousreply 63February 21, 2023 4:18 PM

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