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resonant_waves t1_j2611k3 wrote

The New Yorker published a good review of the bizarre experience of attending a Shen Yun performance.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/stepping-into-the-uncanny-unsettling-world-of-shen-yun

They tend to to tailor their message to the political leanings of the local audience, so a performance in the Boston area is unlikely to include their stances on gay and interracial marriage, atheism, evolution, and medical science.

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slouchingtoepiphany t1_j26a2kc wrote

>bizarre experience

That's a good summary of an SY performance, bizarre. I saw one a few years ago in Providence, RI. It included an Asian performer singing opera in Italian, a strange mix of traditional Chinese dance and modern electronics about the Monkey King, and political theater that amounted to a litany of cusses about the PRC. I don't know what this says about the residents of Providence (I live outside of Boston).

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VeterinarianRich5986 t1_j28qv5j wrote

I haven’t seen Shen Yun, but the Falun Gong have become a darling of conservative America with their “pro-religion, anti-communist” stance. It’s most obvious in NYC that Falun Gong members are a larger part of the community in Flushing than in Manhattan Chinatown. In the former, not only do you see Shen Yun more heavily advertised, but the political ads ahead of the 2022 midterm election were overwhelmingly in favor of Lee Zeldin, whereas Manhattan Chinatown was much more in favor of Hochul.

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