Dragon Springs, Shen Yun Host Special Screening and Tour

For the first time in its history, Shen Yun’s home campus of Dragon Springs welcomed guests to a special gathering Saturday. Local elected officials, Ambassadors from Washington, D.C., and dignitaries from as far away as Texas, Toronto, and Taiwan were some of the over 150 guests on hand.

Over the years, Dragon Springs has had a steady flow of visitors—from building inspectors to congresspersons to the daily Amazon trucks and parents dropping off their kids at school. But this is the first time a public event of this scale has been held.

The afternoon began with a tour of Dragon Springs, continued with a movie screening of Unbroken: The Untold Story of Shen Yun, which was followed by a panel with the cast, and wrapped up with a delectable reception, photos, and mingling with performers.

For many Shen Yun performers, this was part of a long-held vision—to welcome the public to experience the beauty of Dragon Springs and life at Shen Yun, to share art and traditional culture right here in their home.

But for over 20 years, that vision remained a distant dream. Ongoing persecution in China—affecting the families of many in the community, the activity of PRC spies in the area, and death threats to performers have made safety the highest priority.

The Saturday event provided a glimpse of what the future might hold with Dragon Springs one day becoming an open artistic and cultural hub that stands for religious freedom, resilience, and triumph over tremendous odds.

Temple Tour

Guests drove into campus to the backdrop of perfect New York Hudson Valley fall foliage. As they came around the lake, they got their first glimpse of the Buddhist-style temple buildings and majestic pagoda.

Shen Yun members and Fei Tian school teachers gave the visitors private tours of the temple grounds. They explained how the history of Dragon Springs is tied in to the history of Falun Gong in China.

Falun Gong is the Buddhist-based spiritual practice currently persecuted in China. The practice includes meditation exercises and living according to three principles: Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. It was introduced in China in 1992 and spread quickly. By 1999, the Chinese regime estimated that 70-100 million people were practicing it, more than the members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Seeing that as a threat, the CCP launched a campaign in 1999 to eradicate the practice. Widespread persecution followed: mass arrests, imprisonment, torture, and deaths in custody. Many Falun Gong practitioners lost their jobs, their schooling, and their families. Some managed to leave China and rebuild their lives elsewhere.

In 2001, a small group of volunteers in Deerpark, Orange County, NY, began building on this 400-acre property. At first, it was a refuge, a place where practitioners, especially orphans, who had suffered under the persecution could find community and rebuild their lives.

Over time, the community came to see that something larger was at stake. Traditional Chinese culture itself was being destroyed in China, a loss of one of the world’s most ancient treasures. So, in 2006, these Falun Gong practitioners formed Shen Yun Performing Arts here.

Tang Dynasty Architecture

All the Dragon Springs temples are built in the style of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), often considered China’s cultural golden age. The Dragon Springs temples are some of the most authentic Tang-style buildings in the world, because in China, most were lost to time or destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76).

Much of traditional Chinese culture revolves around virtue, self-cultivation, and connection to the divine. And indeed, many of the architectural themes reflect these spiritual motifs—from the dragon reliefs to the lotus stonework to the guardian warriors and even the shape of the railings and entryways.

Finally, the grand five-tiered pagoda that towers above Dragon Springs and the hills beyond is a symbol of protection and harmony. Like the spires of a cathedral, it elevates the viewer’s perspective to higher planes.

Fei Tian

The final stop of the tour was Fei Tian Academy of the Arts. “Fei tian” is a Chinese term for heavenly beings, who fly and bring goodness to the world through song and dance. This was the name chosen for the two schools where many of Shen Yun’s performers were trained.

Fei Tian Academy of the Arts, established in 2007, is a K-12 performing arts school. It is fully accredited by the New York Board of Regents and follows a standard New York State academic curriculum.

In 2011, Fei Tian College was also established. Accredited by the New England Commissioner of Higher Education, it offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in dance, music, stage production.

Screening

After their tours, guests entered one of Shen Yun’s two rehearsal halls, lovingly known as the Small Theater, for a screening of the movie Unbroken.

The documentary tells the story of Shen Yun’s rise and global impact, and investigates the forces behind media attacks and threats against the company, tracing them all the way to Beijing.

Following the movie, Shen Yun performers—including the main cast members Jesse and Lucas Browde, principal dancers Piotr Huang and Angela Lin, and several others took to the stage to answer questions from the audience. Having already participated in similar panels in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities, they spoke of how meaningful it was to them to open up their Dragon Springs home.

“We hope this is just the beginning,” said Piotr Huang who, like many of Shen Yun’s professional dancers, now lives off campus but spent his formative years in the boarding schools at Dragon Springs. “I really want to thank you for coming here and for your support.”

Rubbing Shoulders

New York’s Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler, who gave opening remarks, New York State Assemblyman Karl Brabenec, and Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano were some of the attending VIPs, which also included White House correspondents, filmmakers, accomplished ballet dancers, think tank leaders, and several ambassadors.

The event, which was supposed to wrap up by 5pm, continued well past, as guests lingered to keep chatting with performers and take pictures with dancers garbed in traditional Chinese gowns.

Loath to leave, guests spoke glowingly of their visit and the remarkable achievement of this place. Most of all, they spoke of the young artists they met here, who take such joy in carrying forth tradition and sharing it with the world, starting from Dragon Springs.