Shen Yun Challenges New York Times Exposé

A New York Times representative rebutted Shen Yun contentions.

By David Ofshinsky

Shen Yun Performing Arts is based at Dragon Springs, with its guarded gates, in Cuddebackville, NY

New York Times Findings About Shen Yun

Shen Yun Performing Arts, the classical Chinese dance and music company headquartered at the Dragon Springs complex in Cuddebackville, has been in a media spotlight since last August, but not for its performances.

On August 15, the New York Times published an investigative report by Nicole Hong and Michael Rothfeld on Shen Yun, chronicling allegations of mistreatment of the performers.

On November 17, the two New York Times writers reported that the NYS Department of Labor (NYSDOL) had opened an inquiry into Shen Yun following the Times August investigative report.

On November 25, the New York Times pair reported that a civil lawsuit seeking class action status and unspecified monetary compensation had been filed in Federal Court against Shen Yun, alleging violations of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and New York State laws setting minimum wages, hours, overtime, and other workplace protections.

On December 29, the New York Times published a report on how Shen Yun’s business practices and its use of volunteers and donations resulted in accumulation of substantial cash assets. Some money was allegedly used for expensive jewelry by the founder of the Falun Gong religion, Li Hongzhi, who oversees Shen Yun.

Shen Yun was founded in 2006 at Dragon Springs. Each year, the company tours over 200 cities across five continents, reaching more than a million people.

Dragon Springs was established in 2001 by practioners of Falun Gong, a Buddhist based spiritual discipline that was banned by the Chinese government in 1999. In addition to Shen Yun, the 400 acre site is also home to a Buddhist Meditation center, an accredited high school, the Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, and an accredited college, Fei Tian College.

Accusations of harsh treatment, long work hours, low pay and denial of medical care are common elements in the reports and complaints. Chun-Ko Chang, a former dancer, is a central character featured in three of the articles. She is also the person who initiated the lawsuit.

Ms. Chang, 28, joined Shen Yun after she arrived from Taiwan in 2009 at age 13. She left the dance troupe in 2020 at age 24 and returned to Taiwan. She currently resides there with her husband, and they opened a dance studio there in 2022.

According to the August 15 New York Times (NYT) article, the reporters did extensive fact checking, reviewed thousands of pages of documents and interviewed 150 people, 25 of whom were former performers. The article details complaints from the former performers who allege controlling and abusive treatment, long hours and inadequate pay. Fourteen of the former performers also claimed they suffered injuries or aliments and were either denied medical care or discouraged from seeking it.

The NYT noted that injuries can be common for competitive dance companies, and that Shen Yun’s routines are a challenging mix of gymnastics and ballet. The NYT also reported that several former performers had positive comments about their experiences with Shen Yun.

New York State Department of Labor Inquiry

In the November 17 article on the NYS Department of Labor inquiry, the NYT noted that the agency enforces laws and regulations on child labor, overtime pay and the minimum wage. The NYSDOL, however, would not provide details on what it was investigating. The article noted that Shen Yun had only received the required state certification to use performers under the age of 18 this past September. The article also noted that for students, apprentices and volunteers, federal and state minimum wage laws have exceptions, and performing arts groups often pay students and novice performers nominal amounts.

The article quoted three former performers who detailed working long hours for low pay. One current performer was quoted as saying in a You Tube video that being in Shen Yun has been an arduous but positive experience. One of the former performers quoted was Ms. Chang. She said she was paid $500 per month as a student, which was increased to $1,000 per month when she was hired as a professional dancer. She claims that while her employment letter said that she would be working 25 hours per week, she worked as many as 65 hours per week at times.

On November 25, Ms. Chang filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. She alleges that federal human trafficking laws and New York wage and hour laws were violated by the Shen Yun Performing Arts Center and its leaders.

The suit depicts Shen Yun as a forced labor enterprise that exploits young impressionable dancers by hazing, withholding their passports, limiting access to their families, the internet, smartphones, and their ability to leave the campus.

Along with Shen Yun Performing Arts Center, the lawsuit names Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, Fei Tian College, Dragon Springs, Hongzhi Li, founder of Falun Gong, his wife Rui, and Shuhia Gong aka Tianliang Zhang, a key employee of Shen Yun, as defendants.

Ms. Chang is also suing the International Bank of Chicago, a community bank with a branch on West Main St. in Port Jervis. She accuses the bank of profiting from Shen Yun’s activities by ignoring ‘red flags’ of possible exploitation of the child performers while opening accounts for them.

Currently Ms. Chang is the only plaintiff in the case. She is asking a federal judge to certify the suit as a class action, and her attorneys are seeking others to join. Shen Yun currently has over 640 performers in its eight troupes and has had over 1,000 performers during its 18 years of existence.

Ms. Chang is represented by Mariyam Hussain, Esq, of Berger Montague PC, in Chicago, and Times Wang, Esq. of Farra & Wang PLLC, in Washington DC. Berger Montague, headquartered in Philadelphia, bills their fir as a national leader in class action lawsuits. Farra & Wang publicity materials note the firm’s experience in human and civil rights cases, and that two of their principal litigators are fluent in Chinese.

Shen Yun Use of Volunteers

In a December 29 article, the New York Times noted that over the years, Shen Yun has accumulated $266 million in net assets, mostly held in cash. The NYT attributes this to Shen Yun’s business practices and the extensive use of volunteers. Worldwide, affiliated organizations run by dedicated volunteers book, promote and sell tickets for the performances, relieving Shen Yun of this logistical and financial burden. The Times also reported a woman whose children said she died of cancer because her belief in Falun Gong led her to avoid medical care. She gave all her money, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, to Dragon Springs. The NYT also reported that some of her funds went for luxury items for Mr. Li and his wife but noted that some of the funds were repaid to the women’s family through a private agreement.

Shen Yun Defenders

For responses to these stories, I spoke with Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Dafa Information Center, and reviewed Shen Yun’s press releases about the stories.

Browde is in a unique position to speak on the treatment of students and dancers, as his two sons are principal dancers with Shen Yun.

In 2015, after searching for better educational opportunities, Browde, his wife and two sons moved into the area and enrolled the boys in the Northern Academy of the Arts in Middletown. Shortly thereafter, the boys joined the school’s classical Chinese dance program. Before long, the boys tried out and were accepted into the Fei Tian Academy at Dragon Springs.

When asked about his son’s experiences, Browde said that while the school is both academically and physically rigorous, he is not aware of, nor has he ever witnessed anything even remotely exploitive or abusive. He countered the claims of isolation by noting that the students can freely contact their families, and they go home every year during their breaks. There are also students and dancers who live in the nearby community that commute to Dragon Springs. He also noted that many schools are now limiting cell phone use, and it is standard practice for boarding schools not to allow students to leave the campus without permission.

Regarding medical care, Browde put me in contact with Dr. Damon Noto, MD. He is a physiatrist from the Spine and Joint Center in Hackensack, NJ, who is Board Certified in Rehabilitation and Pain Management. He is one of several physicians who provide treatment for students and dancers at Shen Yun.

Dr. Noto said he has been providing services for the students and dancers for over eight years. He said he typically treats about 15 patients at a time, either at Dragon Springs or at his office.

“There’s lots of access to care”, he said, “I have never seen treatment withheld, or any deviation from standards of care. The activities are very acrobatic, so I see a variety of bumps, bruises, sprains and some fractures. The staff never shy away from giving treatment. But like other athletic organizations, often the athlete/performer wants to push through an injury and get back into the game.”

Dr. Noto’s staff expressed incredulity about the NYT article. One staff member said, “This is ridiculous. we just had three dancers in the office in the past two weeks.” Noto said he found the story “shocking and insulting,” given the number of dancers he’s treated and seen go through surgery and rehabilitation. He found the NYT investigation for the story “disappointing, as I know many physicians that have treated Shen Yun performers. . . I found it a little outrageous. How would they know how much medical care is being provided without talking to the professionals involved?”

An email chain provided by Browde showed the NYT reporters had given him one day to provide medical records as evidence of medical care. He responded that it was impossible to get the legally required signed medical record releases and records from the patients treated by medical professionals across Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Canada, and Europe, within a 24 hour turn around period.

New York Times Representative Rebuts Shen Yun Defense

When asked for comment, a representative of the NYT responded, “In March 2024, five months before our first article was published, we requested interviews with Shen Yun's leaders and with any current performers of Shen Yun's choosing. We also requested any records that the group wanted to supply. At that point, Shen Yun was already aware that we were reporting on the group's medical practices. Mr. Browde declined our request."

As for the Department of Labor inquiry, a Shen Yun press release notes that 85% of its performers are adults, and that the students that perform do so under a curriculum approved by the NYS Department of Education. Additionally, students are under full scholarship, which includes room and board that is valued at $50,000 per year. The release also notes that the statement about working long hours is from an adult, although that is not made clear. Additionally, the employment letter Ms. Chang noted is for a student optional practical training program, which is not subject to minimum wage requirements, as stated in the document.

In other statements on Ms. Chang’s lawsuit, the Falun Dafa Information Center and Shen Yun note that after she left Shen Yun in 2020 and returned to Taiwan, she kept in touch with one of her professors. Documentation of the correspondence between them shows that for the first two years, she wrote about how she loved her time at Shen Yun and asked if she could return or teach there. That changed in 2022 when she married and opened a dance studio with her husband. The couple then began working with the Beijing Dance Academy, a Chinese government run institution. Over time the communications dwindled, as she claimed her husband is very controlling. In April 2024, her account blocked the professor, and communication ceased.

Shen Yun Finances Compared to Other Dance Companies

To examine the December 29 New York Times story on Shen Yun’s finances, I reviewed IRS Form 990 filings for Shen Yun and two other similar organizations, the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation (AADF), which provided some insight into Shen Yun’s finances.

IRS 990’s from 2022, the most recent filings available for all three entities, revealed Shen Yun’s high number of volunteers and very low executive compensation.

Shen Yun reported 326 volunteers, while ABT had 59 and AADF listed 44.

For Highly Compensated Employees (HCE), Shen Yun listed 2, for a total of $70,400, one at $41,500, another at $28,900.

AADF had 11 HCE, costing a total of $3.3 million. Two received over $600k; two were at $300k; four were at $250k, and three were at about $200k.

ABT had nine HCE, costing a total of $ 2.5 million. Two received $500k; five were paid over $200k, and two received about $180k.

Revenues and expenses for the three were similar. Shen Yun had revenues of $46 million and expenses of $32 million. AADF had revenues of $37 million and expenses of $48 million, while the ABT had revenues of $38 million and expenses of $45 million. While Shen Yun reported no fundraising expenses, AADF reported $3 million, and ABT had $2.8 million.

For net assets, Shen Yun reported $229 million; AADF had $257 million, and ABT listed $76 million.

A Shen Yun press release on the December 29 NYT story attributed the high number of volunteers to the brutal persecution in China many members of its community fled as motivation for them to help. Regarding the women who donated all her money, the release said that was her decision, and she was often admonished not to make the gifts and donations. After she repeatedly did not seek medical treatment, a Shen Yun staff member forced her to go, according to the release.

At this time, Shen Yun has not filed a response to the lawsuit, and the status of the Department of Labor inquiry is not available.

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