The Madison Overture Center is hosting Chinese classical dance group Shen Yun this weekend.
But behind the flowery dresses and cultural performances is Shen Yun’s parent organization, Falun Gong, a controversial group known for its homophobic, anti-feminist and anti-modern medicine views.
Founded by Li Hongzhi in the 1990s, Falun Gong emerged as an organization that promoted Buddhist and anti-communist beliefs. In July 1999, China banned Falun Gong.
After Falun Gong moved to America, it took a hard turn to the “extreme right,” according to University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Edward Friedman. “They all become anti-gay, anti-women, etc.”
Shen Yun features little reference to the Falun Gong movement on its website. But Friedman said they’re connected.
“They have to find ways of earning money,” he said. “They create a newspaper, they create a television station and they create a dance group.”
The group’s associates run The Epoch Times, a conservative publication founded by a Falun Gong practitioner that has come under fire for its COVID-skeptical articles and ad campaigns. Falun Gong denies affiliation with the publication, despite financial ties.
Shen Yun, which will perform this Saturday and Sunday at the Overture Center, is one of the dance companies.
Shari Gasper, communications director of the Overture Center, said the center strives to provide “extraordinary experiences” through a wide range of events.
According to the Guardian, local Falun Dafa chapters — groups that practice Falun Gong’s philosophy — sponsor Shen Yun performances in their home cities. Madison has a Falun Dafa chapter.
“This is a facility rental event presented by an independent organization separate from Overture Center for the Arts, which simply means we offer our space for rental,” Gasper said.
Falun Gong is also anti-modern medicine. The group’s founder, Hongzhi, claimed aliens introduced humans to modern technology like computers and airplanes. He also believes aliens will “introduce legislation to stop human reproduction.”
“Everyone thinks that scientists invent on their own when in fact their inspiration is manipulated by the aliens,” Hongzhi said in a 1999 Time Magazine interview. “When such people grow up, they will help replace humans with aliens.”
Source Link: https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2024/02/a-controversial-dance-group-is-coming-to-madison-the-overture-center-is-playing-host
