Behind the success of Shen Yun show, former Falun Gong followers allege abuse
The stage show Shen Yun draws audiences across the world with its vision of 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation through classical dance and opera. But in an RFI investigation, former dancers and followers of the Falun Gong movement behind the production describe a very different reality – of psychological coercion, untreated injuries and forced labour involving minors.
Issued on: 15/03/2026 - RFI
Posters advertising the Shen Yun dance show in the Paris metro in March 2024. The global touring production was created by followers of the Falun Gong movement.
AFP - DIMITAR DILKOFF
John Smithies spent 20 years following the teachings of the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong, and held a senior role at its newspaper Epoch Times.
At a meeting last year, he heard a dancer from the Shen Yun company, founded by followers of the movement, tell the room: “If you make a mistake during this performance, the audience will lose their chance to remain on Earth for eternity.”
“Saying that to 14 and 15-year-olds puts incredible pressure on their shoulders,” the British former follower told RFI. “It’s like mental torture.”
His account echoes two complaints filed by former dancers accusing the organisation of forced labour by minors and complaining of untreated injuries and psychological pressure that pushed teenagers to work days of more than 15 hours.
Shen Yun describes its performances as “the rebirth of 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation”. The show, lasting two and a half hours, combines lyrical singing, classical dance and a symphony orchestra.
The company now operates eight touring troupes that perform hundreds of shows each year across several continents, drawing more than a million theatre-goers annually – with tickets typically costing around €75.
John Smithies spent 20 years following the teachings of the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong, and held a senior role at its newspaper Epoch Times.
At a meeting last year, he heard a dancer from the Shen Yun company, founded by followers of the movement, tell the room: “If you make a mistake during this performance, the audience will lose their chance to remain on Earth for eternity.”
“Saying that to 14 and 15-year-olds puts incredible pressure on their shoulders,” the British former follower told RFI. “It’s like mental torture.”
His account echoes two complaints filed by former dancers accusing the organisation of forced labour by minors and complaining of untreated injuries and psychological pressure that pushed teenagers to work days of more than 15 hours.
Shen Yun describes its performances as “the rebirth of 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation”. The show, lasting two and a half hours, combines lyrical singing, classical dance and a symphony orchestra.
The company now operates eight touring troupes that perform hundreds of shows each year across several continents, drawing more than a million theatre-goers annually – with tickets typically costing around €75.
Inside the Dragon Springs compound
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement founded in China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. The practice blends elements of Buddhism with the traditional Chinese discipline of qigong, a practice combining controlled breathing, meditation and slow physical movement.
Li's book Zhuan Falun is the central text of the movement and his teachings have attracted followers among the Chinese diaspora in the US as well as in South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and France.
After the movement was banned in China in 1999, Li settled in the United States. Shen Yun was later founded there as part of a broader network of Falun Gong cultural and media projects.
Many of the dancers train at the Fei Tian Academy, based at Dragon Springs, a 172-hectare complex an hour and a half outside New York City.
The secluded site includes pagodas inspired by China’s Tang dynasty and Buddhist temples as well as modern buildings. Its website says the compound combines “the natural beauty of New York State with Chinese architecture”.
Dancer Li Zhuxing arrived there in 2008 at the age of 13 to begin training. “There on the mountain we lived cut off from the world, like in a bubble,” Li told RFI.
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Students lived under strict rules. Boys and girls were separated, internet access was restricted and training sessions were intense.
Students were also required to hand over their passports to the administration, which the organisation claims is common practice at many private schools in the United States.
Yu Chao, a former Falun Gong member who now describes himself as a whistleblower, said the organisation restricted children’s contact with the outside world.
“Shen Yun trapped these children in a real estate complex, limiting their access to the world both physically and in terms of information,” he said.
Yu spent 10 years in Chinese prisons because of his involvement with Falun Gong, whose members have long faced persecution in China. Now a YouTuber, he said he receives many messages with testimonies about life inside Dragon Springs.
For believers, however, the complex represents the centre of the community.
“For the faithful it’s paradise, the pinnacle of the community,” said Rob Gray, who practised Falun Gong for 13 years before leaving the movement in 2024.
Having a child perform with Shen Yun is seen by Falun Gong followers as a major achievement because it offers the possibility of meeting the movement’s founder, Li Hongzhi.
“We saw him once or twice a week,” said former student Li. “When he entered the room everyone stopped what they were doing. We believed we were in the presence of a supreme divine being.”
Concerns over medical care
Daily life at the academy followed a strict routine of studying Falun Gong texts, practising meditation exercises, dance training, classes and meals.
“It was very hard. We constantly pushed our limits,” Li said, adding that many students did not initially view the physical strain as abuse. “Because of the brainwashing we went through, we saw suffering as something positive that could eliminate our karmic debt.”
Other former dancers and visitors to Dragon Springs described a similar mindset.
“It was so deeply ingrained in us to reject Western medicine that our fragile minds told us we couldn’t go to the hospital,” one former dancer told RFI. “It would disappoint Master Li. It would be a sin.”
Similar allegations have surfaced in other investigations. In August 2024, The New York Times reported accounts from former Shen Yun performers describing intense training schedules, pressure to keep performing while injured and being discouraged from seeking medical care.
Several lawsuits filed since then have repeated accusations of forced labour involving minors.
RFI’s investigation, based on interviews with former dancers and followers of the Falun Gong movement behind the show, uncovered similar claims about life inside the organisation.
Shen Yun rejects accusations that it confined performers or restricted their communication.
The company provided a statement from its troupe doctor, Damon Noto, who said claims that medical treatment was discouraged or refused do not match what he has personally observed or what appears in his medical records.
Shen Yun also published a petition signed by 1,550 current or former performers describing the allegations as “gross distortions and false stories about our work, our faith and our way of life”.
Li Hongzhi’s teachings remain unclear on the question of medical treatment.
“Refusal of treatment is extremely common in the community. Some senior members have died because of it,” Yu Chao said.
Other former followers described similar beliefs within the movement.
“Li Hongzhi says with incredible confidence that only he can heal,” Gray added.
Daily life at the academy followed a strict routine of studying Falun Gong texts, practising meditation exercises, dance training, classes and meals.
“It was very hard. We constantly pushed our limits,” Li said, adding that many students did not initially view the physical strain as abuse. “Because of the brainwashing we went through, we saw suffering as something positive that could eliminate our karmic debt.”
Other former dancers and visitors to Dragon Springs described a similar mindset.
“It was so deeply ingrained in us to reject Western medicine that our fragile minds told us we couldn’t go to the hospital,” one former dancer told RFI. “It would disappoint Master Li. It would be a sin.”
Similar allegations have surfaced in other investigations. In August 2024, The New York Times reported accounts from former Shen Yun performers describing intense training schedules, pressure to keep performing while injured and being discouraged from seeking medical care.
Several lawsuits filed since then have repeated accusations of forced labour involving minors.
RFI’s investigation, based on interviews with former dancers and followers of the Falun Gong movement behind the show, uncovered similar claims about life inside the organisation.
Shen Yun rejects accusations that it confined performers or restricted their communication.
The company provided a statement from its troupe doctor, Damon Noto, who said claims that medical treatment was discouraged or refused do not match what he has personally observed or what appears in his medical records.
Shen Yun also published a petition signed by 1,550 current or former performers describing the allegations as “gross distortions and false stories about our work, our faith and our way of life”.
Li Hongzhi’s teachings remain unclear on the question of medical treatment.
“Refusal of treatment is extremely common in the community. Some senior members have died because of it,” Yu Chao said.
Other former followers described similar beliefs within the movement.
“Li Hongzhi says with incredible confidence that only he can heal,” Gray added.
Rise of the Falun Gong
At its height, Falun Gong said it had 70 million followers, although the exact number is difficult to verify.
In April 1999, tens of thousands of them gathered near Zhongnanhai, the Chinese leadership compound in Beijing. At the time, Falun Gong claimed tens of millions of adherents across China, including members of the Communist Party itself.
Alarmed by the movement’s growing influence, the authorities later used the demonstration as justification to ban it. Its followers have faced persecution ever since.
Opposition to the Communist Party remains central to the movement’s message. That theme also runs through Shen Yun performances, which present a vision of China before communist rule and portray the party as an oppressive force.
“The fundamental belief of Falun Gong is that Li Hongzhi is not simply God but the Buddha Lord of all gods,” Gray said.
“He came to Earth to carry out what he calls the rectification by the Fa,” he said, describing it as the renewal of Earth and every element of the cosmos.
For Shen Yun dancers, that belief shapes their role.
“Our entire existence was dedicated to this mission – saving sentient beings,” Li Zhuxing said. “The message for us as children was that the apocalypse was coming.”
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Total devotion
Some followers first encounter Falun Gong through free meditation sessions offered at practice sites. Over time many devote most of their time to the movement’s projects.
“People working on Falun Gong projects feel it is part of their divine mission,” Smithies said. “They devote 10, 12, 14 or even 16 hours a day, as much as they can.”
During certain periods he said he slept between three and five and a half hours a night.
The current number of Falun Gong followers worldwide remains hard to determine. The movement has claimed it has between 7 million and 20 million practitioners.
Followers also contribute to the organisation’s economic activities. These include the newspaper Epoch Times, which reported $126 million in revenue in 2024, New Tang Dynasty Television and Shen Yun itself, which reported $290 million in assets the same year.
“Li Hongzhi built an empire thanks to free labour,” Smithies added. A former executive at Epoch Times, he said the people who sell tickets for the show in shopping centres receive no pay.
Believers and dancers also help with practical tasks around performances.
“Once the show is over, the Shen Yun performers turn into an army,” Gray explained. “Everyone has an assigned role to pack up and clear the venue.”
Wealth and leadership
Despite the criticism, the show’s popularity and financial success are widely recognised.
Organisations linked to Falun Gong, all registered as non-profit groups, have accumulated considerable resources.
Shen Yun’s lawyer in France, Paul Mallet, rejected accusations that Li Hongzhi personally benefits from the organisation’s wealth.
“Li Hongzhi lives only from the royalties of his books,” Mallet said.
However, former followers have questioned his lifestyle. “His family loves luxury – jewellery, French perfumes, cars,” Yu Chao said – claims that are difficult to verify.
“If he truly preaches detachment from everything earthly – fame, fortune, wealth – then he should prove it,” Li Zhuxing said.
In Zhuan Falun, Li Hongzhi writes that what matters is not wealth itself but whether followers can detach from it.
“What matters is not whether you hold a high position or have great wealth, but whether you can abandon that attachment,” the book states.
“These are phrases open to interpretation but far from what Li says in private or how he behaves,” Gray said. “He lives like a king in his complex while followers sacrifice their lives, accumulate debts and live under constant pressure.”
This story was adapted from the original version in French by Nicolas Rocca.
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