The Shen Yun dancers have officially left the building — but not before roping Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman into providing the international dance troupe with a glowing endorsement.
Unbeknownst to Zuckerman, the company quickly incorporated his television “interview” into Shen Yun‘s massive marketing machine.
“Lieutenant Governor of Vermont Says Shen Yun Is an ‘Incredible Presentation,'” reads the Epoch Times, a New York City-based anti-Communist China newspaper founded in 2000 by members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
In a phone interview Monday, Zuckerman explained that Shen Yun Performing Arts invited him to welcome the company to Burlington for its March 25 evening show at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.
The Flynn provided him with a ticket to attend, according to Zuckerman, who said he plans to reimburse the theater.
Zuckerman went on stage to introduce the troupe and presented Shen Yun representatives with an official “certificate of appreciation,” expressing his appreciation for “their contribution to the arts and culture.” Zuckerman, who said he knew little about Shen Yun prior to the performance, described it as “an interesting combination of art and religion.”
“I was mostly thinking that we had an opportunity to learn about the ancient arts and dance from other cultures, which in this day and age, are both things that we need more of, given the sentiments out of Washington,” Zuckerman said.
Last week, Seven Days published “The Story Behind Lavish Chinese Dance Extravaganza Shen Yun.” The company rolled out an enormously expensive and ubiquitous marketing campaign throughout Vermont and Seven Days examined some of the religious and political underpinnings of the New York-based Chinese dance troupe.
As we discovered, Shen Yun Performing Arts was formed by members of Falun Gong, a Chinese religious movement founded in 1992 by its spiritual leader, Li Hongzhi. In 1999, Falun Gong, also known in the United States as Falun Dafa, was officially labeled a cult by the Chinese government and was outlawed. Since then, Falun Gong followers in China claim to have become targets of considerable persecution by Chinese authorities, including lengthy prison sentences in work camps, executions and the harvesting of their organs for transplantation. The Chinese government vehemently denies those claims.
For his part, Zuckerman said was unaware of any of the politics or controversy surrounding Shen Yun, which one U.S.-based expert on cults referred to as the “marketing and recruitment arm” of “Master Li’s financial empire.”
Li himself claims to possess supernatural powers that can purportedly “heal” diabetes. He has also been criticized by members of the LGBT community, among others, for his controversial remarks about miscegenation and mixed-race offspring, which he once said “confuses the gods.” Li has also described homosexuality as “filthy,” “deviant,” “repulsive” and “incestuous,” and has predicted that gays will be “the gods’ first target for annihilation.”
However, Falun Gong members insist that their spiritual movement is not a cult but simply a peaceful spiritual practice that teaches truth, compassion and tolerance. The dance troupe, currently on a 30-country world tour, heavily markets itself as an effort to preserve 5,000 years of Chinese art and culture which, it says, China’s Communist Party has systematically tried to eradicate.
Zuckerman said that he was interviewed at the Flynn by a TV crew, which he assumed was part of the dance company itself. The Chinese interviewer asked him very “leading questions” about the show and “the whole divine stuff,” which Zuckerman characterized as “an orchestrated set-up.”
“I began to get a little more wary when those questions were coming my way,” he noted. Zuckerman said he tried to steer his remarks back to the artistic components of the show. As he put it, “I appreciated the art form. I wasn’t as enthusiastic about the religious overtones.”
By Monday morning, Zuckerman’s photo and comments were on the website of the Epoch Times, which has been described as the voice of Falun Gong in the West. The interviewer was from New Tang Dynasty Television, which was founded by Falun Gong practitioners and bills itself as “the world’s largest Chinese media company outside China — a rare independent one — covering all issues relevant to Chinese the world over.”
The site also solicited enthusiastic testimonials from other theater-goers at the Burlington shows — as well as at performances around the world.
Zuckerman said that he wasn’t aware that his words and image were being used to market Shen Yun until being asked about it by a Seven Days reporter.
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I was going to reimburse the theater, I promise. BUSTED, just like your March Madness bracket.
Falun Gong is a propaganda machine which has roped many people in over the years. I despise what was originally a movement of resistance to the oppressive govt of China and now has become a cult profiteering an man with a big narcissistic ego. Most people don’t know the agenda of this movement so I can’t blame David for getting used. It will not be the last time a public official does with this group.
Did Mr. Picard really have to protect his ego this much to write a follow up piece and criminalize the Lieutenant Gov. for supporting a cultural event in Burlington? The list of Politicians supporting Shen Yun and the plight of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners is endless, starting with Vermont’s very own Bernie Sanders… Sanders co-sponsored a Congressional Resolution condemning China:
“Urges the Chinese Government to release from detention all religious practitioners, Falun Gong members, and prisoners of conscience and end torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment”
Kicking kind hearted people while they are down is disgusting and Seven Days should be ashamed for spreading such venom.
The author seems to have concerns that Shen Yun is some kind of “Bait and Switch” operation to fill the coffers of “Master Li’s financial empire” meaning it’s all about the money. This seems like a very ornate and complicated way just to make money. A more logical explanation is that the stated purpose of Shen Yun is actually true: It goes through all that trouble of travel, practice constant harrassment from the CCP to show the grandeur of life and art before the CCP rose and tried to destroy all the culture before it so that no-one would remember any other way except the the CCP way. That’s why it was called a “Cultural Revolution” That is what it’s purpose was. It hasn’t changed.
Does anybody think it’s weird that the critic has not even seen the show?
Who would have guessed that reviewing a Chinese acrobatic show would result in so much impassioned commentary . Who guessed there would be so many new SevenDays commentators hurling abuse at the writer . Good job Mr Picard in revealing the behind the curtain elements here .
No, no, no. It just can’t be that Shen Yun might actually be a good show. I’m going to be as controversial as possible because it’s a free country and I can be as pessimistic as I want about Shen Yun. I can’t get enough of playing Devil’s Advocate. I love hyping people up over nothing. I will talk about the controversy surrounding Li Hongzhi and say nothing about his merits because leaking these secrets are way more important than Li’s discussions of being a compassionate person. It just can’t be that Shen Yun will bring a good energy to Vermont. I am not a rebel without a cause. No no no I am not. It’s just that when I see something that gets much support I *MUST* dig deep for its other side, every last thing has a dark side, right? I don’t believe that Shen Yun might actually be as good as those international reviewers have said. I have many writing awards of excellence to prove that I know what I am talking about in these articles.