WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — A former dancer for Shen Yun Performing Arts sued the nonprofit dance company on Monday, saying it has subjected some children who perform for it to harsh conditions, including long hours for little pay.
The lawsuit brought by Chang Chun-Ko in White Plains federal court sought unspecified damages on behalf of Chang and other alleged victims of Shen Yun, which is based in Dragon Springs in Cuddebackville, New York, along with other entities named as defendants.
It said the group has adopted some of the most abusive practices of the Chinese Communist Party, including subjecting children to public humiliation as discipline, even as it faces persecution by the CCP.
The lawsuit said Shen Yun has made hundreds of millions of dollars by exploiting young dancers it recruits from abroad, forcing them to work grueling hours and scaring them into thinking they’d face harm if they quit.
Shen Yun did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Its website said 85% of its performers were adults. It called touring with Shen Yun a “chance of a lifetime” for aspiring young artists, enabling them to receive $50,000 worth of scholarships to attend schools registered with the New York State Department of Education or accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.
According to the website, Shen Yun, along with Fei Tian Academy of the Arts and Fei Tian College — which were also named as defendants — were founded by followers of the Falun Gong faith.
The lawsuit said Chang joined the Fei Tian Academy of the Arts on a full scholarship after her father died when she was 11 because she believed she could help her family by dancing for Shen Yun.
It said she began performing with Shen Yen in December 2009 and received no pay for the first year despite working up to 18 hours a day preparing for shows, including seven at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.
After the first year, she was paid $500 a month until she “graduated” from Fei Tian College in 2019, when her salary was raised to $1,000 a month, according to the lawsuit.
She trained from May through November before touring from December to May as a dancer at over 100 shows in the United States and internationally, all while being disallowed from seeing her mother except during a two-week holiday once a year, it said.
The lawsuit said she contracted measles when she was 14 but was not permitted to see a doctor. Instead, the lawsuit said, she was told to meditate to feel better and was required to work while she recovered.
Chang was terminated from Shen Yun in 2020 when she was 24 years old and was returned to Taiwan, where she was diagnosed with clinical depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the lawsuit.