By Mr. Tao Jiang  (2009-11-18)

New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) and its subordinated organization Shen Yun Performing Arts, also known as Divine Performing Arts, are both affiliated organizations of evil cult Falun Gong. Since 2004, NTDTV and Shen Yun Performing Arts have launched shows all over the world in the name of "publicizing traditional Chinese culture" and cheated the public not knowing the truth into the theater for the performance. This article will not only go into details about the quality of performing arts of these shows but also reveal the truth about their propagandizing cultic doctrines of Falun Gong and attacking Chinese government by focusing on their content.

1. Analysis on the Content of Shows staged by Shen Yun Performing Arts

We make an analysis by taking the content of Shen Yun Performing Arts shows as an example.

The programs of Shen Yun Performing Arts shows touring the world can be roughly divided into three categories, that is, programs centering mainly on traditional Chinese culture, programs propagandizing Falun Gong doctrines, and programs making wrong accusation on Chinese government for "persecuting" Falun Gong.

The first category centers mainly on traditional Chinese culture featuring folk dances and music, such as Yi nationality dance "Dance of the Yi", Tibetan dance "Snow-Capped Mountain", "Mongolian Chopsticks Dance", as well as dance dramas "Mulan Joins the Battle", "The Poet's Vision", "Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride", and "The Monkey King Triumphs". To pacify the audience and to cover their real intention, these programs were usually staged during the first half of the performance.

Programs of the second category propagandize the doctrine of Falun Gong, such as "Do Not Hesitate", "Giving You Hope", "The Udumbara's Bloom", "Holy Falun King", "The Rotating Wheel of Fa", and "Beauty Leading to Miracles". These programs can further fall into following types:

The first type of programs are used by Li Hongzhi to exert mental control over his believers and all of them boast without exception the "greatness" of Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong, and Dafa disciples, which can be seen clearly through the lyrics of the songs in these programs:

"Do Not Hesitate": "In confusion we wait for the God and the Savior, we're looking forward that the gate of Heaven opens soon. The Creator, the Creator has already been here. The truth passed from practitioners can solve the mystery, Do not hesitate, take this chance in history."

"Giving You Hope": "A soprano sang feelingly, "For whom do we brave the elements? For whom are we bearing hardships despite harsh weather? Standing on the sidewalk, followers of Dafa / Leaflets in hand born of effort and compassion …… / We wish only to share with you a hopeful tomorrow."

The second type of programs tries to deify Li Hongzhi by claiming that he is the reincarnation of Li Shimin the great emperor of Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the Holy Falun King descending to man's world. Since Li Hongzhi used to hint at his origin as the reincarnation of Emperor Li Shimin and the Buddha descending in the world, a large amount of programs of Shen Yun Performing Arts center on this theme:

"Holy Falun King": "The King of kings descends to our Earth / He saves us by teaching Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance / The King of kings descends to our Earth / He brings us good luck and the law of universe / The Lord turns Falun to remake the cosmos / He turns our ordinary people into gods / Now our Lord is calling people to follow Dafa / Never let the worldly attachments puzzle us / This is a chance once in a thousand years / And do not hesitate over your best choice" The song flatters Li Hongzhi without any reservation as the King of Celestial Kings who came to the man's world to "save the beings" before the doomsday and urges people to join in Falun Gong as soon as possible if they don't want to lose the chance to "become god".

Dance drama "The Udumbara's Bloom" tries to deify Li Hongzhi by claiming that he is Holy Zhuanlun King descending to the man's world.

The third type of programs distorts and claims traditional Chinese culture with a long history of 5,000 years as the so-called "divine culture", and the representative program is "The Five Millennia Begin", the opening program at Shen Yun Performing Arts shows. Falun Gong organization promotes the program by saying that, "China was known as Shenzhou in ancient times, which means the Land Blessed by Gods； and Chinese culture is known as divine culture for the people of China believed their culture as divinely bestowed by gods living together with people. The core of Chinese culture consists of the content of respecting heaven and fate as well as emphasizing moralities and beneficence. But we're sorry to witness that these good traditions have been destroyed in past five decades, resulting in the complete loss of cultural essence that can be dated back to five thousand years ago. Shen Yun Performing Arts comes into being to answer the call of the times and takes it as its mission to inherit and create authentic culture and to revive the true, five-millennia-old artistic tradition of China by praising rustic life and firm beliefs as well as promoting the respect and gratitude toward gods. The dances are classical and elegant with exquisite beauty and the performance is solemn and sublime, which is capable of penetrating into the heart of the viewers and providing audiences everywhere with an experience of sublime beauty."

Programs of the third category of the shows are themed on Chinese government "persecuting" Falun Gong, such as dance dramas "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution", "Dignity and Compassion", and "Knowing the True Picture Offers Ultimate Hope".

"Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution" fabricates the stories about Falun Gong being persecuted and smears the image of both Chinese government and law enforcement officials. According to the interpretation of Falun Gong media, the program describes a group of people in mainland China being brutally persecuted by Communist Party of China for their believing in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance" and for practicing Falun Gong but no brutality can shake their firm belief in Falun Gong. With kindness and evil being repaid respectively, the program ends with the practitioners being persecuted to death winning eternal life by overcoming the evil force.

Dancing program "Dignity and Compassion" is also about a fabricated story of a Falun Gong practitioner being persecuted. Falun Gong media explains that the program tells the stories about a Dafa disciples imprisoned in mainland China being tortured and about to die. After the policeman torturing her falls asleep, the Law-Protection God in another space takes away his life so as to punish him for committing the infinite crimes. At the same time, the Dafa disciple has become Bodhisattva and kindly saves his life, informing him about the horrible consequences of participating in the persecution of Dafa disciples. The policeman wakes up and regrets what he has done； he releases the Dafa disciple and begs for her forgiveness.

It shall be noted that, when introducing Shen Yun Performing Arts shows, Falun Gong media usually emphasizes these two programs of "Heaven Awaits US Despite Persecution" and "Dignity and Compassion", both of which center on the theme of attacking Chinese government. According to the report by NTDTV on August 30, 2009, after seeing the show by Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center, separatist Rebiya Kadeer told the reporter, "The show is so good that I can't find the right words for it. Very high level and very good. Democracy, human rights, ancient times, and modern times were all depicted [in the performance]." Rebiya mentioned especially her impression on two dance programs of "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution" and "Dignity and Compassion" about Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted and said, "The persecution on Falun Gong has been well expressed and the performance is beautiful and peaceful as well."

2. The Deceptive Nature of Shen Yun Performing Arts shows

In the name of promoting "traditional culture", Shen Yun Performing Arts presents these shows for more than merely cheating the audience into the theater. By publicizing the "persecution" on Falun Gong, it plans to make the show into an important platform for Falun Gong organization to publicize its cultic theories and to propagandize the heretical ideas of Li Hongzhi in the name of promoting "divine culture" so as to appeal to good-natured Chinese and foreign audiences not knowing the truth and to realize their evil purpose of exerting mind control over them.

Li Hongzhi has said for several times in public that the shows of Shen Yun Performing Arts are organized by local Falun Gong organizations at his order. Instead of entertaining the ordinary people, these shows are "to demonstrate the positive image of Dafa disciples, to save the public, and to clarify about the truth". This shows that the so-called Shen Yun Performing Arts show is no only ordinary artistic performance but also a political tool that Falun Gong organization uses to propagandize cultic doctrines and anti-China theories, to expand its influence and to collect money. In terms of the nature, these shows fool, cheat, and poison the audience by distorting and smearing true traditional Chinese culture.

On the performance list of Shen Yun, there are always several programs based on ancient Chinese stories or folk arts, such as "Mulan Joins the Battle", "The Poet's Vision", "The Loyalty of Yue Fei", "Drummers of the Tang Court", "Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride", "Flowing Sleeves", "Snow-Capped Mountain", "The Monkey King Triumphs", "Dance of the Yi", "Mongolian Chopsticks", and "Forsythia in Spring". But as the old Chinese saying goes, a step-mother crying over a kid will definitely change her tone after three cries, the real focus of Shen Yun is on such programs as "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution", "Giving You Hope", "The Udumbara's Bloom", "Dignity and Compassion", "Holy Falun King", "Knowing the True Picture Offers Ultimate Hope", "Let Me Not Regret", and "Be Cautious". And the real purpose is to lead the audience into the scenes of horror and violence during happy holidays and Falun Gong achieves its goal at seeing the audience go back home with a sullen mood.

To hide something instead of exposing everything is actually a deliberate technique that Falun Gong organization adopts to promote its Shen Yun shows and it proves more successful than hard-selling. It's like to season the tasteless meals or serving a dessert before the main course so as to tempt the audience into more programs. This is an experience that Falun Gong organization got through actual practices in past three to four years and works as mental anaesthesia for audience. The organizer knows it clearly that no western audience will accept physically and psychologically the direct political propaganda and "truth clarification" and they will leave the theater during the performance, which is a humiliation for the performers and the organizer. To make things worse, the audience dropping out will also tell others and no one will come to the performance in future； this is the last thing that the organizer wants to see.

But in spite of all the efforts made by the organizer, lots of US-based media have published articles in recent years revealing the truth about the shows by Falun Gong, such as New York Times' A Glimpse of Chinese Culture That Some Find Hard to Watch on February 6, 2008 and Los Angeles Times' Ties to Falun Gong add Controversy to the Chinese New Year Spectacular on January 7, 2008. Some US audiences going to the show without preparation are also aware of the truth later and have written online articles to tell the truth about these shows.

● On January 7, 2008, American newspaper Los Angeles Times published a commentary entitled Ties to Falun Gong Add Controversy to the Chinese New Year Spectacular: "Most of the Chinese community think it's linked too much with political events," Michael Cheung, president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assocation, based in downtown Los Angeles said, "I saw the show last year at the Kodak Theatre. Some of the content reflects politics and human rights; it is not exactly art."

● On January 9, 2008, American newspaper Star-Telegram commented in the article Show's Beauty Shaded by Political Message: "The basic message– Falun Gong good, Chinese government bad– could not have been clearer."

● On February 6, 2008, American newspaper New York Times mentioned in A Glimpse of Chinese Culture That Some Find Hard to Watch that more members of the audience "had realized that the show was not simply a celebration of the Chinese New Year, but an outreach of Falun Gong, that is banned in China."

● On January 17, Canadian CBC TV broadcasted a news story entitled Chinese Embassy: Chinese New Year Spectacular "just propaganda". The news retailed view of Chinese Embassy in Canada and quoted a letter from a Canadian Chinese saying, "We went there looking for traditional Chinese culture and a celebration of New Year and it wasn't either of those things, really. In the end, I felt deceived."

● On January 20, 2008, the Toronto-based Canadian newspaper The Star published an article Falun Gong New Year Event Mere Propaganda, stating: "The production is so heavily laden with Falun Gong messages as to negate any pleasure the dancing and singing might have afforded. Art it wasn't. The choreography was consistently banal, with the performers arranged in rows doing identical gestures. The dancers were under-rehearsed and unremarkable."

● On February 25, 2008, the British newspaper Telegraph published an article Shen Yun: Propaganda as Entertainment, claiming "Acrobatics, singing and dancing skills are used in the service of a propaganda exercise on the part of Falun Gong." "Most of the members of the Divine Performing Arts troupe are members of Falun Gong. But their beliefs do not simply form a backdrop to a neutral presentation of traditional Chinese dance and legends. They are the focal point of the evening. Thus the songs boast about the benefit of the laws and principles by which they live." Sarah Crompton, a journalist from the British newspaper Telegraph, said: "What I really object to is that such a politically motivated performance is being smuggled on to stages around Europe in the name of family entertainment."

● On Feb. 25, 2008, the Guardian published a "Dance Review" Shen Yun: "Something Creepy" about Falun Gong Performers, saying, "Even if you are sympathetic to the Falun Gong cause, there is something creepy about the evangelical tone with which this is delivered. It is also made worse by the fact that the show's visual style is like a Disney production, with the cast dressed in gaudy, glittery updates of traditional costumes backed by scenes of soft-focus landscape created by computer animation."

● On February 25, 2008, the Evening Standard reported in an article entitled Great Pall of China that, "It also reveals much about geo-politics. The company is based in New York and wastes little time bashing the Chinese Communist Party, both in the programme and on stage. You could overlook the politics if the show was any good, but it is dated and sentimental, with comically bad comperes, laughably awful film projections and dance routines that would make panto producers blush."

● On March 31, 2008, the Melbourne-based Australian newspaper The Age reported: "Many performers of the show are Chinese exiles who follow Falun Gong. Lead dancer and assistant company manager Vina Lee said the show told traditional spiritual stories suppressed by the Chinese Government."

Because of the political theme, Shen Yun shows have been rejected not only by some countries but also by lots of magnates.

● The Malaysian government canceled a dance performance of Falun Gong which was planned to be staged on March 22-23, 2008. According to a ministry official, the Malaysian government revoked the show's permit because the Chinese Embassy complained that the organizers-U.S.-based New Tang Dynasty Television station-were supporters of Falun Gong, a spiritual movement that Beijing bans as a dangerous cult.

● New Zealand Herald reported on April 7, 2008 in an article entitled VIPs again steering clear of Falun Gong-linked show that the Divine Performing Arts show has stirred up controversy. Invited guests are spurning a Chinese cultural performance in Auckland as organisers try to stop a repeat of last year's situation when not a single politician turned up.

● The Age released on March 31, 2008, about 130 Victorian MPs were invited to a VIP function on opening night but only seven attended. Four MPs who had accepted invitations cancelled at the last minute, without explanation.

Most articles published by Falun Gong media cited "people of all walks" and sang praised about the "excellent shows". Ironically, these "celebrities", "statesmen", and ordinary audiences in western countries talked about the excellence of the performance in terms of costumes, lighting, and stage set but few of them mentioned the content of these programs. Even if there are a few remarks about the content in these articles, the topics center on "traditional Chinese culture" and few of them is about the impression on Falun Gong. The reason why this happens is because Falun Gong organization intends to fool the western countries by covering their real purpose of launching political propaganda in the name of promoting traditional Chinese culture.

"神韵晚会"是法轮功进行邪教和反华宣传的政治工具

作者:江涛     2009年11月8日

"新唐人电视台"及所属的"神韵艺术团"是邪教法轮功的附属组织.自2004年以来,"新唐人电视台"和"神韵艺术团"打着"弘扬中华传统文 化"的幌子在世界各地大搞所谓的"神韵晚会"演出,欺骗了不少不明真相的民众上当观看.且不说这些"晚会"节目艺术水准如何,就其内容而言,其中大量包含 着宣扬法轮功邪教教义和攻击中国政府的节目.

一,法轮功神韵演出的内容分析

现以2009年"神韵晚会"的内容为例加以说明.

纵观2009年法轮功在世界各地巡演的"神韵晚会"的内容,可以分成三类:一是中国传统文化节目,二是宣扬法轮功教义的节目,三是污蔑中国政府对法轮功进行"迫害"的节目.

第一部分,中国传统文化的节目,以民族舞蹈,音乐为主,如彝族舞"云罗仙韵",藏族舞"雪山欢歌",蒙古舞"女子筷子舞",舞剧"木兰从军","李白醉酒","济公抢亲","金猴降妖"等.为了掩人耳目,这些节目基本上安排在上半场进行.

第二部分,宣传法轮功教义的节目.如"不要再徘徊","给你希望的路","真相在传","婆罗花开","法轮圣王","飞旋的法轮","美展奇缘"等.这些节目又可细分为以下几种:

一是李洪志对信徒实施精神控制的节目.这些节目,无一例外地歌颂了李洪志,法轮功和"大法弟子"的伟大.通过这些节目的歌词便可见一斑:

"不要再徘徊":"迷蒙中等的是救世的主,盼的是天门早日开.创世主,创世主早已来,大法弟子传的真相能把迷解开,抓住这万古机缘,不要再徘徊."

"给你希望的路":"我们为了谁风雨无阻?我们为了谁风餐露宿?站在街头的是大法弟子,手中的传单渗透着慈悲与辛苦……只想给你一条希望的路."

"飞旋的法轮"歌词为:"飞啊飞……旋啊旋,超越时间空间,罩住了正法的尊严,正法的尊严.啊啊!那是美丽缤纷的法轮在不停的飞旋,从开始直到永远,从开始直到永远,从开始直到永远."

二是极力神化李洪志,把李洪志比作唐王李世民转世,比作转轮圣王下凡.因李洪志曾暗示自己是唐朝皇帝李世民转世,也曾自诩为如来下凡,所以"神韵晚会"中的大量节目是围绕这个主题创作的:

"法轮圣王":"法轮圣王下世来,救度众生慈悲为怀.法轮圣王下世来,踏着如意真理而来,转动法轮再造苍宇,当今世界人神同在.你可听见神在召唤,不要被 假相迷惑.万古机缘不会再来,失去的机缘不会再有."该歌曲赤裸裸地吹捧李洪志乃万王之王,是为了在世界末日来临前"救度众生"而来到人世间,煽动人们赶 快加入法轮功,否则将失去"成神"的机会.

舞剧"婆罗花开"更是暗示李洪志是转轮圣王下世,大肆神化教主.

三是歪曲中华五千年的传统文化是所谓的"神传文化",代表作是"神韵晚会"的开篇节目"开创五千年文明".法轮功是这样宣传的:"中国古称神州,就是神护 佑着的土地.中国的文化被称作神传文化,那是因为人们相信在远古时候,中原大地上人神同在.中国的文化贯穿着敬天知命,重德行善的内涵,令人痛心的是这些 美好的传统在近五十年来受到践踏,五千年来的精髓几乎丧失殆尽.神韵艺术团在此时应运而生,艺术团以继承并开创人类的正统文化为主旨,再现东土神传文化之 精华.赞美着生命的纯朴,歌颂着信仰的坚定,传播着对神的敬仰和感恩.舞蹈古朴典雅,清逸柔美.演出中的庄严神圣,悠远辉煌在滚滚红尘中震撼人心,令人发 出久违的慨叹和持久的共鸣."

第三部分,污蔑中国政府对法轮功进行"迫害"的节目.如舞剧"在迫害中我们屹然走在神的路上","威严与慈悲","了解真相是得救的希望"等.

"迫害中我们屹然走在神的路上"编造法轮功受迫害的故事,对中国政府和执法官员进行丑化.法轮功媒体是这样解说节目的:描述的是中国大陆有这样一群人,因 信仰"真,善,忍"佛法修炼而遭受中共的残酷迫害.即使这样,也动摇不了他(她)们的对佛法真理的坚定信念.善恶有报,被迫害致死的修炼者超越了邪恶的迫 害,生命得到了永恒的升华.

舞蹈"威严与慈悲"编造的是一个法轮功人员被"迫害"故事.法轮功媒体是这样解说节目的:"威严与慈悲"讲述的是在中国大陆的监狱里,大法弟子被酷刑折磨 至生命垂危.当迫害她的警察昏昏入睡时,另外空间里的护法神要向其索命偿还其犯下的无边罪业.此时,大法弟子已成就了菩萨果位,慈悲的救下其性命,告诉他 参与迫害大法弟子的可怕后果.醒悟了的警察痛悔自己的所为,当即释放了大法弟子并请求大法弟子的原谅.

值得指出的是,法轮功媒体要介绍"神韵晚会"时,特别看重的两个节目就是污蔑中国政府的"迫害中我们屹然走在神的路上","威严与慈悲".如据新唐人 2009年8月30日报道,"疆独"分子热比娅观看了神韵纽约艺术团在肯尼迪艺术中心歌剧院的演出后,说到:"今天演得特别好,有些形容的话我找不到了. 非常高的水平,非常好,古代,现代,人权,都包括进去了."热比娅还特地谈到了对两个表现法轮功学员受迫害的舞蹈"迫害中我们屹然走在神的路上"和"威严 与慈悲"的印象,她说:"法轮功受迫害的情况演的特别好,而且演得很美,很平和."

二,"神韵晚会"的欺骗性

打着"传统文化"的幌子的"神韵"演出,并不是仅仅为了骗人观看.在宣传法轮功所谓遭受"迫害"的同时,另一个意图就是把"神韵"演出打造成法轮功宣扬邪 教理论的重要平台,借所谓弘扬"神传文化"宣扬法轮功的邪教理念,把李洪志和法轮功的歪理邪说借"神传文化"之名予以宣扬,吸引不明就里的善良华人观众乃 至国外观众修炼法轮功,从而达到被法轮功从思想上所控制的险恶目的.

李洪志本人多次公开声称,"神韵晚会"是他让各地法轮功组织举办的."晚会""不是给常人娱乐的",而是"要展现大法弟子的风貌,救度众生,讲清真相". 这说明,所谓"神韵晚会"根本就不是什么文艺演出,而是法轮功搞邪教和反华宣传,扩大影响并聚敛钱财的政治工具,是对中华文化的玷污和歪曲,是对观众的欺 骗,愚弄和毒害.

尽管"神韵"的演出节目单,总是要加上几个中国古代的或者民族的节目,如"木兰从军","李白醉酒","岳飞刺字","大唐鼓吏","济公抢亲","扇袖 广舒","雪山欢歌","金猴降妖","云罗仙韵","宝蓝仙子","女子筷子舞","迎春花开"等,但是,正如后娘哭孩子,嚎不了三声准变调."神韵演 出"真正要宣传的,还是"迫害中我们屹然走在神的路上","美展奇缘","给你希望的路","婆罗花开","威严与慈悲","法轮圣王","了解真相是得 救的希望","别让我为你遗憾","留意"等,最后的根本目的是大过节的将观众引入恐怖和暴力之中,弄得观众心情很不爽,法轮功的目的就达到了.

欲盖弥彰其实也是法轮功"神韵演出"的一种宣传手段,比一上来就赤裸裸地宣传又多了一层遮羞布,等于是在味如嚼蜡的饭菜里加入了少许调料,或者是正餐前的 一道甜点心,专门引诱观众耐着性子看下去,这种精神的麻醉作用是法轮功近三,四年间逐渐积累起来的经验,如果直接搞政治宣传,给西方人"讲真相",观众的 心理和心脏会承受不了,中途会纷纷离场,那样会令主办者很没有面子,也容易做成一锤子买卖,深谙此道的小号手也是很会揣摩观众的心理的.

正因为如此,近年来,不少美国媒体发表文章谈到了法轮功所谓"晚会"的一些真实情况(如"纽约时报"2008年2月6日发表的A Glimpse of Chinese Culture That Some Find Hard to Watch,"洛杉矶时报"2008年1月7日发表的Ties to Falun Gong add Controversy to the Chinese New Year Spectacular).一些在不知情的情况下观看了"晚会"的美国观众也意识到自己受了欺骗,纷纷在网上留言揭露"晚会"的内幕.摘录如下:

● 美国"洛杉矶时报"(Los Angeles Times)2008年1月7日报道"与法轮功的关系使新唐人新年晚会备受争议" (Ties to Falun Gong Add Controversy to the Chinese New Year Spectacular)提到,洛杉矶中华会馆主席张自豪(Michael Cheung)说:"华人社区大多数人认为新年晚会与政治有太多的联系,我去年在柯达剧院观看了演出.一些节目影射了政治和人权,这并非艺术."

● 美国"星电报"(Star Telegram)2008年1月9日报道"法轮功新年晚会政治目的遭到美国人质疑" (Show's Beauty Shaded by Political Message)称,晚会"再清楚不过地发出了所谓'法轮功好,中国政府不好'的讯息".

● 美国"纽约时报"(New York Times)2008年2月6日报道"一场有人难以看下去的中国文化演出" (A Glimpse of Chinese Culture That Some Find Hard to Watch)中提及,大量观众意识到:"这节目不只是庆祝中国新年,而是被中国禁止的法轮功的活动……在演出前和演出中场,从无线电城鱼贯而出的观众说,他们对这类素材感到不安."

● 2008年1月17日,加拿大CBC电视台(CBC TV)播发了"中国大使馆:中国新年晚会只不过是法轮功的宣传" (Chinese Embassy: Chinese New Year Spectacular "just propaganda")的新闻,转述了中国驻加大使馆的观点,并援引了一位华人的来信,该信说:"看了法轮功的新年晚会,我感觉到上当了."

● 加拿大多伦多"星报"(The Star)2008年1月20日发表文章"法轮功晚会不过是宣传幌子" (Falun Gong New Year Event Mere Propaganda),文中提到晚会"节目充满了法轮功讯息,以至于抵消了歌舞可能给观众带来的任何愉悦.真正的艺术并不是这样的.晚会的舞蹈始终是老一套.演员表演水平之寻常,就像是在排练."

● 英国"电讯报"(Telegraph)2008年2月25日文章"神韵,借娱乐之名,行宣传之实" (Shen Yun: Propaganda as Entertainment)称,晚会的"杂技,唱歌,舞蹈,所有的演出技巧都是变着法子在为法轮功做宣传 服务的","神韵表演艺术团的大部分成员是法轮功学员.在演出中他们并没有把自己对法轮功的信仰掩饰在那些中国传统舞蹈和传说的故事背景中,而是将其作为 整场演出的焦点推出.歌曲赤裸裸鼓吹他们所遵奉的法轮功教义的种种好处."记者Sarah Crompton说:"我真正反对的是,把这样一个具有明显政治意图的表演冠以家庭娱乐的名义偷偷搬到了欧洲各地的舞台上."

● 英国"卫报"(Guardian)2008年2月25日"神韵,怪异的宣传与光怪陆离的组合" (Shen Yun: "Something Creepy" about Falun Gong Performance)称,"神韵艺术团的大部分演员为法轮功修炼者……他们要展示介绍的还是这场演出 的目的--将演出作为示威活动来抗议中国共产党体制……即使你同情法轮功,也能感觉出这台节目中传递着一些鬼鬼祟祟的,热衷于布道式的腔调."

● 英国"旗帜晚报"(Evening Standard)2008年2月25日报道"神韵玷污中国文化" (Great Pall of China)称:"这个总部设在纽约的演出团体在其节目编排和舞台布置上均花费一些心思用来抨击中国 共产党……假设晚会还能有点儿好的地方,都可能会让你忽略其中隐藏的政治意图,可惜晚会老套而伤感,糟糕的主持人滑稽做作,背景投影令人哭笑不得,舞蹈套 路使舞剧导演都感到羞愧难当."

● 澳大利亚墨尔本报纸"时代报"(The Age)2008年3月31日报道:"参与这台晚会的很多演员都是华人,而且是法轮功人员.晚会首席舞者和公司经理助理李维娜(Vina Lee)承认这台节目讲述了中国政府打击法轮功的故事."

由于神韵晚会的政治性,一些国家禁止其演出,一些国家政要拒绝观看晚会.

● 马来西亚政府取消了原定于2008年3月22,23日在马举行的神韵歌舞晚会.来自马来西亚一位政府官员称,政府部门取消晚会是因为中国大使馆反对晚会的组织者--美国的新唐人电视台.新唐人电视台是法轮功的支持者,而北京把法轮功定为危险的邪教.

● 新西兰政要拒绝出席神韵晚会."新西兰先驱报" (New Zealand Herald)4月7日报道,神韵表演艺术团的晚会已在奥克兰挑起了争论.去年,没有一位政要出席在奥克兰举办的神韵晚会.今年,尽管主办方竭力试图避免出现同样的窘况,但受邀的贵宾仍然拒绝他们的邀请.

● 神韵晚会澳大利亚遭冷遇.澳大利亚"时代报" (The Age)2008年3月31日报道,法轮功给约130名维多利亚州议员发出参加首场演出的VIP邀请,但只有七人出席.四名原本已经接受邀请的议员在最后一分钟取消出席计划,未作任何解释.

在法轮功媒体的吹嘘报道中,主要内容就是借"各界人士"之口夸耀演出"精彩".有趣的是,以西方人士为主的所谓各界"名流","政要"和普通观众,都是众 口一词地大谈"神韵"形式上如何精彩,具体到演出的服装,灯光,布景如何华丽云云,只有少数内容谈及对节目内容的观感,话题也都是赞扬演出弘扬"中华传统 文化",而绝少有对演出中有关法轮功内容的观感.其中原因,除了上述遮掩演出的"政治宣传"外,就是意图通过包装欺骗西方社会.