A spokesman for the group discusses this past week’s incident at the John F. Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts and what happens next.
Shen Yun has seen a boom in popularity over the years, with its vivid and absolutely stunning representation of Chinese culture. However, it has not been without controversy.
The show has seen criticism not only from the Chinese Communist Party, but also select U.S. outlets and YouTubers who see it nothing more than a showcase in unfair labor laws. And sometimes it has gone to the extreme, with a recent incident at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as an example.
A recent bomb threat came in, which could have affected the show. The Center’s security “acted swiftly, following existing protocols” to assure safety measures were met, and the show continued on without a hitch.
But it leads to an important question – how are threats such as these affecting the show and, for that matter, its organizers at Falun Gong?
A spokesman for the group joins us now to discuss the situation, and what happens next. We welcome them to the show!
Q&A:
- What are your thoughts following the bomb threat from this past week’s Shen Yun event?
- Are you surprised that someone would go so far to call in a bomb threat? Or is that expected given the Chinese Communist Party’s opposition?
- What is it about Falun Gong that seems to drum hatred out of certain people? Are they really that concerned about the group?
- How is Shen Yun learning from this threat, and are particular safety measures being put in place to protect the performers?
- Where do you see the Shen Yun event going from here? It continues to be a very popular show, in spite of the threats going against it.
- Where can we learn more about the beautiful art of Shen Yun, and how it motivates others?
- The official website can be found here. Tickets to shows are also available there for purchase.
FROM SHEN YUN
ABOUT LEVI BROWDE…
Levi Browde serves as the Executive Director with the New York-based Falun Dafa Information Center – an organization dedicated to ending the human rights abuses against people who practice Falun Gong in China.
A career software entrepreneur, Levi’s life changed dramatically in 1999 when his best friend came to the office one morning and announced the Chinese Communist Party had taken away his mother in Beijing to be tortured and “brainwashed.” This marked the beginning of his volunteer work to defend human rights in China. Two years later, Levi himself was detained in a Chinese jail outside Beijing for secretly meeting with Western reporters and protesting on Tiananmen Square.
Over the past 20 years, Browde has been interviewed and quoted by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, CNN, the Associated Press, TIME Magazine, BBC, AFP, and other media outlets. He has spoken about Falun Gong and human rights in China at briefings on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, at the United Nations human rights sessions in Geneva, Switzerland.
Browde studied East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University and is an avid supporter of traditional Chinese culture. He founded several software start-ups, and lives in New York with his wife and two sons.
Samples of Levi on camera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS3RS4vJguI
https://tv.faluninfo.net/unmasking-chinas-gestapo-610-office/
https://tv.faluninfo.net/levi-browde-exposes-the-new-york-times-distorted-coverage-of-human-rights/
ABOUT LEESHAI LEMISH…
Leeshai Lemish was born in the United States. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Chinese history from Pomona College, California, and his master’s in international relations from the London School of Economics. He has spent extended periods studying, working, and conducting research throughout East Asia, and has authored articles on Chinese current affairs published in both English and Chinese. He joined Shen Yun Performing Arts when the company was founded in 2006 and has since emceed around 1,500 performances with the company, appearing with Shen Yun at prestigious theaters such as Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center in the U.S., the London Coliseum, Tokyo Opera City, and many other venues around the world.
ABOUT JARED MADSEN…
Jared was one of the first students from Iowa to study in China where he fell in love with Chinese culture. For the past 18 years, Jared has served as MC for Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Samples of Jared on camera:
https://www.shenyuncreations.com/video/_video_8c5f163284fe4e9281ac40a7c85f684c/An-Inside-Look-at-Shen-YunE28093And-How-ItE28099s-Defying-the-CCPE28099s-Global-Campaign-to-Cancel-It-?pid=p_DaJ4kSAASRyd&view=
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTRDEDglS24
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